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Rollo  in  Paris 


BY 

JACOB  ABBOTT 


WITH  ILL  USTRA  TIONS 


CHICAGO 

UNION  SCHOOL  FURNISHING  CO, 

PUBLISHERS 

Elementary  library 
Pembroke  High  School 

Pembroke,  Virginia 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/rolloinparisabbott 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE 

I.     The  Arrangements 5 

II.     Crossing  the  Channel 24 

III.  Journey  to  Paris 42 

IV.  The  Garden  of  the  Tuileries 61 

V.     The  Elysian  Fields 78 

VI.     A  Great  Mistake 96 

VII.     Carlos 114 

VIII.     The  Garden  of  Plants 130 

IX.     An  Excursion 147 

X.     Rollo's  Narrative 163 

XI.     Conclusion 180 


953478 


PRINCIPAL  PERSONS  OF  THE  STORY. 

Rollo:  twelve  years  of  age. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.    Holiday:  Rollo's  father  and  mother, 

traveling  in  Europe. 
Thanny  :  Rollo's  younger  brother. 
Jane:  Rollo's  cousin,  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Holiday. 
Mr.  George:  a  young  gentleman,  Rollo's  uncle. 


I 

4 
PARIS 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE     ARRANGEMENTS. 

Gentlemen  and  ladies  at  the  hotels,  in  Lon- 
don, generally  dine  about  six  or  seven  o'clock, 
each  party  or  family  by  themselves,  in  their 
own  private  parlor.  One  evening,  about  eight 
o'clock,  just  after  the  waiter  had  removed  the 
cloth  from  the  table  where  Rollo's  father  and 
mother,  with  Rollo  himself  and  his  cousin, 
Jennie,  had  been  dining,  and  left  the  table 
clear,  Mr.  Holiday  rose,  and  walked  slowly 
and  feebly — for  he  was  quite  out  of  health, 
though  much  better  than  he  had  been — toward 
a  secretary  which  stood  at  the  side  of  the 
room. 

4 'Now,"  said  he,  "we  will  get  out  the  map 
and  the  railway  guide,  and  see  about  the  ways 
of  getting  to  France." 

Rollo  and  Jennie  were  at  this  time  at  the 
window,  looking  at  the  vehicles  which  were 
passing  by  along  the  Strand.  The  Strand  is  a 
street  in  London,  and  one  of  the  most  lively 
and  crowded  of  them  all.  As  soon  as  Rollo 
heard  his  father  say  that  he  was  going  to  get 
5 


6  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

the  map  and  the  railway  guide,  he  said  to 
Jane,— 

"Let's  go  and  see." 

So  they  both  went  to  the  table,  and  there, 
kneeling  up  upon  two  cushioned  chairs  which 
they  brougnt  forward  for  the  purpose,  they 
leaned  over  upon  the  table  where  their  father 
was  spreading  out  the  map,  and  thus  estab- 
lished themselves  very  comfortably  as  specta- 
tors of  the  proceedings. 

"Children,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "do  you  come 
here  to  listen,  or  to  talk?" 

"To  listen,"  said  Rollo. 

"O,  very  well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday;  "then  I 
am  glad  that  you  have  come." 

In  obedience  to  this  intimation,  Rollo  and 
Jane  took  care  not  to  interrupt  Mr.  Holiday 
even  to  ask  a  question,  but  looked  on  and  lis- 
tened very  patiently  and  attentively  for  nearly 
half  an  hour,  while  he  pointed  out  to  Mrs  Hol- 
iday the  various  routes,  and  ascertained  from 
the  guide  books  the  times  at  which  the  trains 
set  out,  and  the  steamers  sailed,  for  each  of 
them,  and  also  the  cost  of  getting  to  Paris,  by 
the  several  lines.  If  the  readers  of  this  book 
were  themselves  actually  in  London,  and  were 
going  to  Paris,  as  Rollo  and  Jennie  were,  they 
would  be  interested,  perhaps,  in  having  all  this 
information  laid  before  them  in  full  detail. 
As  it  is,  however,  all  that  will  be  necessary, 
probably,  is  to  give  such  a  general  statement 
of  the  case  as  will  enable  them  to  understand 
the  story. 

By  looking  at  any  map  of  Europe,  it  will  be 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  7 

seen  that  England  is  separated  from  France  by 
the  English  Channel,  a  passage  which,  though 
it  looks  quite  narrow  on  the  map,  is  really  very 
wide  especially  toward  the  west.  The  nar- 
rowest place  is  between  Dover  and  Calais, 
where  the  distance  across  is  only  about  twenty- 
two  miles.  This  narrow  passage  is  called  the 
Straits  of  Dover.  It  would  have  been  very 
convenient  for  travelers  that  have  to  pass 
between  London  and  Paris  if  this  strait  had 
happened  to  lie  in  the  line,  or  nearly  in  the 
line,  between  these  two  cities ;  but  it  does  not. 
It  lies  considerably  to  the  eastward  of  it ;  so 
that,  to  cross  the  channel  at  the  narrowest  part, 
requires  that  the  traveler  should  take  quite  a 
circuit  round.  To  go  by  the  shortest  distance, 
it  is  necessary  to  cross  the  channel  at  a  place 
where  Dieppe  is  the  harbor,  on  the  French 
side,  and  New  Haven  on  the  English.  There 
are  other  places  of  crossing,  some  of  which  are 
attended  with  one  advantage,  and  others  with 
another.  In  some,  the  harbors  are  not  good, 
and  the  passengers  have  to  go  off  in  small 
boats,  at  certain  times  of  tide,  to  get  to  the 
steamers.  In  others,  the  steamers  leave  only 
when  the  tide  serves,  which  may  happen  to 
come  at  a  very  inconvenient  hour.  In  a  word, 
it  is  always  quite  a  study  with  tourists,  when 
they  are  ready  to  leave  London  for  Paris,  to 
determine  by  which  of  the  various  lines  it  will 
be  best  for  their  particular  party,  under  the 
particular  circumstances  in  which  they  are 
placed,  to  go. 
After  ascertaining  all  the  facts  very  care- 


8  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

fully,  and  all  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  each  particular  line*  Mr.  Holiday 
asked  his  wife  what  she  thought  they  had  bet- 
ter do. 

4 'The  cheapest  line  is  by  the  way  of  New 
Haven,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"That's  of  no  consequence,  I  think,  now," 
said  Mr.  Holiday.  "The  difference  is  not 
very  great. ' ' 

"For  our  whole  party,  it  will  make  four  or 
five  pounds,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "I  am  traveling 
to  recover  my  health,  and  everything  must 
give  way  to  that.  If  I  can  only  get  well,  I  can 
earn  money  fast  enough,  when  I  go  home,  to 
replace  what  we  expend.  The  only  question  is. 
Which  way  will  be  the  pleasantest  and  the 
most  comfortable?" 

"Then,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "I  think  we  had 
better  go  by  the  way  of  Dover  and  Calais, 
where  we  have  the  shortest  passage  by  sea. " 

"I  think  so,  too,"  said  Mr.  Holiday;  "so  that 
point  is  settled." 

"Father,"  said  Rollo,  "I  wish  you  would  let 
Jennie  and  me  go  to  Paris  by  ourselves  alone, 
some  other  way." 

The  reader  who  has  perused  the  narrative 
of  Rollo' s  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  will  re- 
member that,  through  a  very  peculiar  combina- 
tion of  circumstances,  he  was  left  to  make  that 
voyage  under  his  own  charge,  without  having 
any  one  to  take  care  of  him.  He  was  so  much 
pleased  with  the  result  of  that  experiment, 
and  was  so  proud  of  his  success  in   acting  as 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  9 

Jennie's  protector,  that  he  was  quite  desirous 
of  trying  such  an  experiment  again. 

4tO,  no!"  said  his  father. 

44 Why,  father,  I  got  along  well  enough  in 
coming  over, '  *  replied  Rollo. 

4 'True,"  said  his  father;  44 and  if  any  acci- 
dent, or  any  imperious  necessity,  should  lead 
to  your  setting  out  for  Paris  without  any  escort, 
I  have  no  doubt  that  you  would  get  through 
safely.  But  it  is  one  thing  for  a  boy  to  be  put 
into  such  a  situation  by  some  unforeseen  and 
unexpected  contingency,  and  quite  another 
thing  for  his  father  deliberately  to  form  such 
a  plan  for  him." 

Rollo  looked  a  little  disappointed,  but  he  did 
not  reply.  In  fact,  he  felt  that  his  father  was 
right. 

4'But  I'll  tell  you,"  added  Mr.  Holiday,  44If 
your  uncle  George  is  willing  to  go  by  some 
different  route  from  ours,  you  may  go  with 
him." 

44 And  Jennie?"  inquired  Rollo. 

"Why!  Jennie?"  repeated  Mr.  Holiday,  hes- 
itating. 4kLet  me  think.  Yes,  Jennie  may  go 
with  you,  if  she  pleases,  if  her  mother  is  will- 
ing." 

Jennie  always  called  Mrs.  Holiday  her 
mother,  although  she  was  really  her  aunt. 

44 Are  you  willing,  mother,"  asked  Rollo, 
very  eagerly. 

Mrs.  Holiday  was  at  a  loss  what  to  say.  She 
was  very  desirous  to  please  Rollo,  and  at  the 
same  time  she  wished  very  much  to  have 
Jennie    go  with   her.       However,    she  finally 


10  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

decided  the  question  by  saying  that  Jennie 
might  go  with  whichever  party  she  pleased. 

Rollo's  uncle  George  had  not  been  long  in 
England.  He  had  come  out  from  America 
some  time  after  Rollo  himself  did,  so  that 
Rollo  had  not  traveled  with  him  a  great  deal. 
Mr.  George  was  quite  young,  though  he  was  a 
great  deal  older  than  Rollo — too  old  to  be  much 
of  a  companion  for  his  nephew.  Rollo  liked 
him  very  much,  because  he  was  always  kind 
to  him ;  but  there  was  no  very  great  sympathy 
between  them,  for  Mr.  George  was  never 
much  interested  in  such  things  as  would  please 
a  boy.  Besides,  he  was  always  very  peremp- 
tory and  decisive,  though  always  just,  in  his 
treatment  of  Rollo,  whenever  he  had  him 
under  his  charge.  Rollo  was,  however,  very 
glad  when  his  father  consented  that  he  and 
his  uncle  George  might  go  to  Paris  together. 

Mr.  George  was  out  that  day,  and  he  did  not 
come  home  until  Rollo  had  gone  to  bed.  Rollo, 
however,  saw  him  early  the  next  morning,  and 
told  him  what  his  father  had  said. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  after  hearing  his 
story,  "and  what  do  you  propose  that  we 
should  do?" 

"I  propose  that  you  and  Jennie,  and  I  should 
go  by  the  way  of  New  Haven  and  Dieppe," 
replied  Rollo. 

"Why?"  said  Mr.  George. 

"You  see  it  is  cheaper  that  way,"  said 
Rollo.  "We  can  go  that  way  for  twenty-four 
shillings.  It  costs  two  and  three  pounds  by  the 
other  ways." 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  11 

"That's  a  consideration, "  said  Mr.   George. 

"For  the  pound  you  would  save,"  said  Rollo, 
"you  could  buy  a  very  handsome  book  in 
Paris." 

Rollo  suggested  these  considerations  because 
he  had  often  heard  his  uncle  argue  in  this  way 
before.  He  had  himself  another  and  a  secret 
reason  why  he  wished  to  go  by  the  New  Haven 
route ;  but  we  are  all  very  apt,  when  giving 
reasons  to  others,  to  present  such  as  we  think 
will  influence  them,  and  not  those  which 
really  influence  us. 

Mr.  George  looked  into  the  guide  book  at  the 
pages  which  Rollo  pointed  out,  and  found  that 
it  was  really  as  Rollo  had  said. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "I'll  go  that  way  with 
you." 

So  that  was  settled,  too. 

A  short  time  after  this  conversation,  Rollo's 
father  and  mother,  and  also  Jennie,  came  in. 
Mr.  Holiday  rang  the  bell  for  the  waiter  to 
bring  up  breakfast.  Jennie,  when  she  found 
that  it  was  really  decided  that  her  father  and 
mother  were  to  go  one  way,  and  her  uncle 
George  and  Rollo  another,  was  quite  at  a  loss 
to  determine  which  party  she  herself  should 
join.  She  thought  very  justly  that  there  would 
probably  be  more  incident  and  adventure  to 
be  met  with  in  going  with  Rollo ;  but  then, 
on  the  other  hand,  she  was  extremely  unwill- 
ing to  be  separated  from  her  mother.  She 
stood  by  her  mother's  side,  leaning  toward  her 
in  an  attitude  of  confiding  and  affectionate 


12  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

attachment,  while  the  others  were  talking 
about  the  details  of  the  plan. 

4iI  rather  think  there  is  one  thing  that  you 
have  forgotten,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "and 
which,  it  strikes  me,  is  a  decided  objection  to 
your  plan;  and  that  is,  that  the  steamer  for 
to-morrow,  from  New  Haven,  leaves  at  mid- 
night." 

"That's  the  very  reason  why  I  wanted  to 
go  that  way,"  said  Rollo. 

"Why,  Rollo!"  exclaimed  his  mother. 

* 'Yes,  mother, "  said  Rollo.  "There  would 
be  so  much  fun  in  setting  out  at  midnight. 
Think,  Jennie!"  added  Rollo,  addressing  his 
cousin,  "we  should  sit  up  till  midnight!  And 
then  to  see  all  the  people  going  on  board  by 
the  light  of  lanterns  and  torches.  I  wonder  if 
there'll  be  a  moon.  Let's  look  in  the  almanac, 
and  see  if  there'll  be  a  moon." 

"But,  George,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "you  will 
not  wish  to  set  off  at  midnight.  I  think  you 
had  better  change  your  plan,  after  all." 

But  Mr.  George  did  not  seem  to  think  that 
the  midnight  departure  of  the  boat  was  any 
objection  to  the  New  Haven  plan.  He  had 
noticed  that  that  was  the  time  set  for  leaving 
New  Haven  the  next  night,  and  he  thought 
that,  on  the  whole,  the  arrangement  would 
suit  his  plans  very  well.  He  would  have  a 
good  long  evening  to  write  up  his  journal, 
which  he  said  was  getting  rather  behindhand. 
The  water,  too,  would  be  more  likely  to  be 
smooth  in  the  night,  so  that  there  would  be 
less  danger  of  seasickness.   Besides,  he  thought 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  13 

that  both  Rollo  and  himself  would  become 
very  sleepy  by  sitting  up  so  late,  and  so  would 
fall  directly  to  sleep  as  soon  as  they  got  into 
their  berths  on  board  the  steamer,  and  sleep 
quietly  till  they  began  to  draw  near  to  the 
coast  of  France.  The  distance  across  the 
channel,  at  that  point,  was  such,  that  the 
steamer,  in  leaving  at  midnight,  would  not 
reach  Dieppe  till  five  or  six  o'clock  the  next 
morning.    > 

Accordingl)',  the  arrangements  were  all 
made  for  Rollo 's  departure  the  next  day,  with 
his  uncle  George,  for  New  Haven.  Jennie 
finally  decided  to  go  with  her  father  and 
mother.  The  idea  of  sailing  at  midnight 
determined  her;  for  such  an  adventure,  attrac- 
tive as  it  was  in  Rollo's  eyes,  seemed  quite 
formidable  in  hers.  Rollo  had  a  very  pleasant 
ride  to  New  Haven,  amusing  himself  all  the 
way  with  the  beauties  of  English  scenery  and 
the  continual  novelties  that  everywhere  met 
his  eye.  When  they  at  last  arrived  at  New 
Haven,  they  found  that  the  harbor  consisted 
merely  of  a  straight,  artificial  canal,  cut  in 
from  the  sea,  where  probably  some  small 
stream  had  originally  issued.  The  sides  of  this 
harbor  were  lined  with  piers,  and  on  one  of  the 
piers  was  a  great  hotel,  forming  a  part,  as  it 
were,  of  the  railway  station.  There  were  a 
few  nouses  and  other  buildings  near,  but  there 
was  no  town  to  be  seen.  The  railway  was  on 
one  side  of  the  hotel,  and  the  water  was  on 
the  other.  When  the  train  stopped,  one  of  the 
railway  servants  opened   the   door    for     Mr. 


14  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

George  and  Rollo  to  get  out,  and  Mr.  George 
went  directly  into  the  hotel  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  rooms  and  for  dinner,  while  Rollo, 
eager  to  see  the  ships  and  the  water,  went 
through  the  house  to  the  pier  on  the  other 
side.  He  found  that  there  was  a  pretty  broad 
space  on  the  pier,  between  the  hotel  and  the 
water,  with  a  shed  upon  it  for  merchandise, 
and  extra  tracks  for  freight  trains.  The  water 
was  quite  low  in  the  harbor,  and  the  few  ves- 
sels that  were  lying  at  the  pier  walls  were 
mostly  grounded  in  the  mud.  There  was  one 
steamboat  lying  opposite  the  hotel,  but  it  was 
down  so  low  that,  at  first,  Rollo  could  only  see 
the  top  of  the  smoke-pipe.  Rollo  went  to  the 
brink  of  the  pier  and  looked  down.  The 
steamer  appeared  very  small.  It  was  painted 
black.  There  were  very  few  people  on  board. 
Rollo  had  a  great  mind  to  go  on  board  himself, 
as  there  was  a  plank  leading  down  from  the 
pier  to  the  top  of  the  paddle  box.  But  it  looked 
rather  steep,  and  so  Rollo  concluded  to  post- 
pone going  on  board  till  Mr.  George  should 
come  out  with  him  after  dinner. 

Rollo  looked  about  the  pier  for  a  few  min- 
utes, and  then  went  into  the  hotel.  He  passed 
through  a  spacious  hall,  and  then  through  a 
passage  way,  from  which  he  could  look  into  a 
large  room,  the  sides  of  which  were  formed  of 
glass,  so  that  the  people  who  were  in  the  room 
could  see  out  all  around  them.  The  front  of 
the  room  looked  out  upon  the  pier,  the  back 
side  upon  the  passage  way.  A  third  side  was 
toward   the  vestibule,   and  the  fourth  toward 


ROLLO  IN  3PARIS.  15 

the  coffee  room.  There  were  shelves  around 
this  room,  within,  and  tables,  and  desks,  and 
people  going  to  and  fro  there.  In  fact,  it 
seemed  to  be  the  office  of  the  hotel. 

Rollo  advanced  to  one  of  the  openings  that 
was  toward  the  passage  way,  and  asked  which 
was  the  way  to  the  coffee  room.  The  girl 
pointed  to  the  door  which  led  to  it,  and  Rollo 
went  in. 

He  found  a  large  and  beautiful  room,  with 
several  tables  set  for  dinner  in  different  parts 
of  it,  and  sideboards  covered  with  silver,  and 
glasses  against  the  walls.  On  one  side  there 
were  several  large  and  beautiful  windows, 
which  looked  out  upon  the  pier,  and  opposite 
to  each  of  these  windows  was  a  small  dinner 
table,  large  enough,  however,  for  two  persons. 
Mr.  George  had  taken  one  of  these  tables, 
and  when  Rollo  came  in  he  was  sitting  near  it, 
reading  a  newspaper. 

"Come,  Rollo,"  said  he,  "I  have  ordered 
dinner,  and  we  shall  just  have  time  to  arrange 
our  accounts  while  they  are  getting  it 
ready." 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  took  out  his  pocket 
book,  and  also  a  small  pocket  inkstand,  and  a 
pen,  and  put  them  all  upon  the  table. 

"Your  father's  plan, "  he  continued,  "is  this: 
He  is  to  pay  all  expenses  of  transportation,  at 
the  same  rate  that  he  pays  for  himself;  so  that, 
whatever  you  save  by  traveling  in  cheap  ways, 
is  your  own. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  smiling,"  I  mean  to  walk 
sometimes,  and  save  it  all." 


16  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

14  He  is  also  to  pay  the  expense  of  your  lodg- 
ings." 

41  Yes,"  said  Rollo. 

"Generally,  of  course,  you  will  have  lodgings 
with  him,  but  sometimes  you  will  be  away 
from  him ;  as,  for  instance,  to-night.  In  such 
cases,  I  pay  for  your  lodgings,  on  your  father's 
account." 

44 Yes,"  said  Rollo,  44I  understand  that." 

44  He  also  pays  the  expense  of  all  casualties." 

44So  he  said,"  replied  Rollo;  44but  I  don't 
understand  what  he  means  by  that,  very  well. " 

44 Why,  you  may  meet  with  accidents  that 
will  cost  money  to  repair,  or  get  into  difficulties 
which  will  require  money  to  get  out  of.  For 
instance,  you  may  lose  your  ticket,  and  so  have 
to  pay  twice  over ;  or  you  may  get  lost  your- 
self, in  Paris,  and  so  have  to  hire  a  man  with  a 
carriage  to  bring  you  home.  For  all  such 
things,  the  money  is  not  to  come  from  your 
purse.     Your  father  will  pay." 

4 'Suppose  it  is  altogether  my  fault,"  said 
Rollo.     44Then  I  think  I  ought  to  pay. " 

44  But  your  father  said  that  he  was  sure  you 
would  not  be  to  blame  for  such  accidents; 
though  I  think  he  is  mistaken  there.  I  have 
no  doubt,  myself,  that  nearly  all  the  accidents 
that  will  happen  to  you  will  come  from  boyish 
heedlessness  and  blundering  on  your  part." 

44 We'll  see,"  said  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "we'll  see." 

44 Then,  as  to  your  board,"  continued  Mr. 
George,  "your  father  said  that  you  might  do 
as  you  pleased  about  that.     He  would  pay  it, 


ROLLO  IN  PARTS.  17 

or  you  might,  and  be  allowed  five  francs  a  day 
for  it." 

4 'Five  francs  is  about  a  dollar,  is  it  not?" 
asked  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "very  nearly. 
But  you  had  better  not  reckon  by  dollars,  now 
at  all,  but  by  francs  altogether.  That's  a 
franc. ' ' 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  took  a  silver  coin  out 
of  his  pocket,  and  showed  it  to  Rollo.  It  was 
nearly  as  large  as  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  or  an 
English  shilling,  but  not  quite.  A  quarter  of 
a  dollar  is  worth  twenty-five  cents,  an  English 
shilling  twenty-four,  and  a  franc  about  twenty 
cents. 

"You  can  have  five  of  those  a  day  to  pay 
your  own  board  with." 

"And  how  much  would  it  cost  me  at  a  board- 
ing house,  in  Paris,  to  pay  my  board?"  asked 
Rollo. 

"Why,  we  don't  board  at  boarding  houses 
in  Paris,"  said  Mr.  George.  "We  have 
rooms  at  a  hotel,  and  then  we  get  breakfast 
and  dinner  wherever  we  please,  at  coffee- 
rooms  and  dining-rooms  all  over  the  city,  wher- 
ever we  happen  to  be,  or  wherever  we  take  a 
fancy  to  go.  You  can  get  a  very  excellent 
breakfast  for  a  franc  and  a  half.  A  beefstake, 
or  an  omelet,  and  bread  and  butter  and  coffee. " 

"That's  enough  for  breakfast,"  said  Rollo. 
"And  then,  dinner?" 

"You  can  get  a  first-rate  dinner  for  two 
francs,  or  even  less.  That  makes  three  francs 
and  a  half." 

2   Paris 


18  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

"And  tea?" 

"They  never  take  tea  in  Paris,"  said  Mr. 
George.      "The  French  don't  take  tea." 

"Why  not?"  asked  Rollo. 

"I  don't  know,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "unless 
it  is  because  the  English  do.  Whatever  is 
done  in  London,  you  generally  find  that  just 
the  contrary  is  done  in  Paris. ' ' 

"Don't  we  have  anything,  then,  after  din- 
ner?" asked  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George.  "The  French 
generally  go  and  take  a  seat  at  a  little  round 
table  on  the  sidewalk,  and  have  a  little  glass 
of  brandy  and  a  cigar. ' ' 

Here  Rollo  threw  his  head  back,  and  laughed 
loud  and  long.  He  was  greatly  amused  at  the 
idea  of  his  making  an  allowance,  in  calculating 
how  far  his  five  francs  would  go,  for  a  glass  of 
brandy  and  a  cigar.  Mr.  George  himself, 
sedate  as  he  was,  could  not  but  smile. 

"The  fact  is,"  said  he,  at  length,  "there  are 
only  two  meals  to  calculate  for,  and  they  will 
not  cost,  upon  an  average,  more  than  three 
francs  and  a  half,  if  we  are  prudent  and  eco- 
nomical, and  go  to  plain  and  not  expensive 
places.  But  then  there  is  the  immense  amount 
that  you  will  be  always  wishing  to  spend  for 
cakes,  and  candy,  and  oranges,  and  nuts,  and 
bonbons  of  all  sorts  and  kinds.  There  is  an 
endless  variety  of  such  things  in  Paris. y-  You 
will  find  half  a  dozen  cake  shops  in  every 
street,  with  fifty  different  kinds  of  gingerbread 
and  cake  in  them,  all  of  the  richest  and  most 
delicious  description." 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  19 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "I  shall  want  some  of 
those  things. ' ' 

"No  doubt,"  said  Mr.  George,  "you  will 
make  yourself  sick  eating  them,  I'll  venture  tc 
say,  before  you  have  been  in  Paris  twenty-foui 
hours. ' ' 

"No,"  said  Rollo,  shaking  his  head  reso- 
lutely; "and  I  think  I  had  better  take  the  five 
francs  and  pay  my  own  board." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George,  "and  that 
provides  for  everything  except  incidentals. 
Your  father  said  that  I  might  pay  you  five 
francs  a  day  for  incidentals  and  pocket  money. 
That  is  to  include  all  your  personal  expenses 
of  every  kind,  except  what  we  have  already 
provided  for.  There  will  be  excursions,  and 
tickets  to  concerts  and  shows,  and  carriage  hire, 
and  toys  that  you  will  want  to  buy,  and  all 
such  things.  The  amount  of  it  is,  that  your 
father  pays  all  your  expenses  for  transporta- 
tion, for  lodging,  and  for  casualties.  You  pay 
everything  else,  and  are  allowed  ten  francs  a 
day  for  it.  I  am  to  be  treasurer,  and  to  have 
the  whole  charge  of  your  funds,  except  so  far 
as  I  find  it  prudent  and  safe  to  intrust  them  to 
you,  and  you  are  to  buy  nothing  at  all  against 
my  consent." 

"Nothing  at  all?"  asked  Rollo. 

"No^"  said  Mr.  George,  "nothing  at  all. 
You  are  not  to  expend  a  single  centime  in  any 
way  that  I  object  to. " 

"What  is  a  centime?"  asked  Rollo. 

"It  is  of  the  value  of  less  than  one-fourth  of 
a  cent,"  replied  Mr.  George. 


20  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

"But  I  should  think  I  might  buy  such  little 
things  as  that  would  come  to,  of  myself/'  said 
Rollo.  "Suppose  I  should  wish  to  buy  a  small 
piece  of  gingerbread  for  a  cent" 

"Say  for  a  sou,"  replied  Mr.  George. 
"There  are  no  cents  in  Paris.  " 

"Well,"  rejoined  Rollo,  "suppose  I  should 
wish  to  spend  a  sou  for  gingerbread,  and  eat  it, 
and  you  should  object  to  it. ' ' 

"Very  well,"  replied  Mr.  George;  "and 
suppose  you  were  to  wish  to  spend  a  sou  for 
poison  and  drink  it." 

"But  I  should  not  be  likely  to  buy  poison," 
said  Rollo,  laughing. 

"Nor  should  I  be  likely  to  object  to  your 
buying  gingerbread,"  rejoined  Mr.  George. 
"A  boy,  however,  may,  it  is  clear,  do  mischief 
with  a  little  money  as  well  as  with  a  great 
deal ;  and,  therefore,  the  power  in  his  guardian 
should  be  absolute  and  entire.  At  any  rate, 
so  it  is  in  this  case.  If  I  see  fit  to  forbid  you 
expending  a  single  sou  for  anything  whatever, 
I  can,  and  you  will  have  no  remedy  till  we  see 
your  father  again ;  and  then  you  can  ask  him 
to  put  you  under  some  other  person's  care. 
Until  he  does  this,  however,  the  control  is 
absolute  and  entire  in  my  hands.  I  would  not 
take  charge  of  a  boy  on  anv  other  terms." 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  "I  agree  to  it." 

"And  now,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  am  ready 
to  begin  your  account." 

Mr.  George  then  took  a  small  account  book 
from  his  pocket  book  as  he  said  this,  and,  open- 
ing it  at  the  beginning,  he  wrote  across  the  top 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  21 

of  the  two  pages  which  came  together  the 
words, 

Rollo  Holiday,   in  Account  with  his  Father. 

On  the  corner  of  the  left-hand  page  he  wrote 
Dr.,  which  stands  for  debtor;  and  on  that  of 
the  right-hand  page,  Cr.,  which  stands  for 
creditor. 

"There,"  said  he,  "now  I  shall  enter,  from 
time  to  time,  on  the  creditor  side,  all  the 
money  that  becomes  due  to  you;  and  on  the 
debtor  side  all  that  I  pay  to  you  Then,  by 
striking  a  balance,  we  can  always  tell  how 
much  of  your  money  there  is  in  my  hands. " 

4 '  Let  me  see, ' '  continued  Mr.  George.  ' 4  Your 
father  and  mother  concluded  finally  to  go  by 
the  way  of  Folkstone.  The  fare  that  way  is 
two  pound  eleven.  This  way,  it  is  one  pound 
four.  I  am  to  pay  you  the  difference.  The 
difference  is  one  pound  seven ;  and  one  pound 
seven,  in  francs,  is — let  me  see  how  much." 

Mr.  George  made  a  calculation  with  a  pencil 
and  paper,  and  found  that  it  amounted  to 
thirty-three  francs  seventy-five  centimes. 

44 1  don't  understand  reckoning  by  francs  and 
centimes  very  well,"  said  Rollo. 

44 No, "  replied  Mr.  George,  "that  is  your 
misfortune:  and  you'll  have  to  bear  it  as  well 
as  you  can  till  you  get  out  of  it." 

So  Mr.  George  entered  the  francs — thirty- 
three  seventy -five — in  Rollo's  book. 

4 'You  have  got  thirty-three  francs  to  begin 
with,"  said  he;  44 that's  a  pretty  good  stock." 
"Now,  there  is  your  allowance  of  ten  francs 


22  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

per  day.  I  will  enter  that  weekly.  There  are 
three  days  in  this  week,  including  to-day  and 
Sunday.     That  makes  the  thirty  francs. ' ' 

So  Mr.  George  entered  the  thirty  francs. 

4 "There,"  said  he,  "the  whole  amount  due 
you  up  to  Monday  morning  is  sixty- three 
francs  seventy-five  centimes.  That  is  sixty- 
three  francs  and  three-fourths.  A  hundred 
centimes  make  a  franc." 

"And  now,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "I  will 
make  you  a  payment,  so  as  to  put  you  in  funds, 
and  that  must  be  put  down  on  the  other  side. 
How  much  would  you  like?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Rollo;  "a  few  francs, 
I  suppose." 

"Have  you  got  a  purse?"  asked  Mr.  George. 
"Let  me  see  it." 

So  Rollo  took  out  a  small  leather  bag  which 
he  had  bought  in  London. 

"That's  it,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I'll  give 
you  ten  francs.  When  you  want  more,  you 
can  have  it — that  is,  provided  it  is  due  to  you. ' ' 

Here  Mr.  George  rang  a  bell,  and  a  waiter 
came  in  immediately.  Mr.  George  handed  the 
waiter  a  sovereign,  and  asked  him  to  get 
change  for  it  in  French  money.  The  waiter 
took  the  money,  and  presently  came  in  with 
five  five-franc  pieces.  These  he  presented  very 
respectfully  to  Mr.  George.  Mr.  George  took 
two  of  them  and  gave  them  to  Rollo.  The 
others  he  put  into  his  own  pocket.  The  five- 
franc  pieces  were  very  bright  and  new,  and 
they  were  of  about  the  size  of  silver  dollars. 
Rollo  was  very  much  pleased  with  his  portion, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  23 

and  put  them  in  his  purse,  quite  proud  of  hav- 
ing so  much  spending  money. 

1  'And  you  say  that  I  must  not  spend  any  of 
it  without  first  asking  you,"  said  Rollo. 

"O,  no,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "I  have  not 
said  any  such  thing.  That  would  be  a  great 
deal  of  trouble,  both  for  you  and  for  me." 

"But  I  thought  you  said  that  I  was  not  to 
spend  anything  without  your  consent." 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  said  against  my 
consent.  I  may  forbid  your  spending  when- 
ever I  think  proper ;  but  I  shall  not  do  so,  so 
long  as  I  find  you  always  ask  me  in  doubtful 
cases.  Spend  for  yourself  freely,  whenever 
you  are  sure  it  is  right.  When  you  are  not 
sure,  ask  me.  If  I  find  you  abuse  the  privil- 
ege, I  shall  have  to  restrict  you.  Otherwise, 
not." 

Rollo  was  well  satisfied  with  this  understand- 
ing of  the  case ;  and  just  then  the  waiter  came 
in,  bearing  a  handsome  silver  tureen  contain- 
ing soup,  which  he  put  down  upon  the  table, 
between  Mr.  George  and  Rollo.  So  the  writ- 
ing materials  and  the  purses  were  put  away, 
and  the  two  travelers  were  soon  occupied  very 
busily  in  eating  their  dinner. 


24  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

CROSSING    THE    CHANNEL. 

Mr.  Holiday  had  two  reasons  for  making  the 
arrangements  described  in  the  last  chapter,  in 
respect  to  Rollo's  expenses.  In  the  first  place, 
it  would  gratify  Rollo  himself,  who  would  feel 
more  independent,  and  more  like  a  man,  he 
thought,  in  being  allowed  thus,  in  some  meas- 
ure, to  have  the  charge  and  control  of  his  own 
expenditures.  But  his  second  and  principal 
reason  was,  that  he  might  accustom  his  son,  in 
early  life,  to  bear  pecuniary  responsibilities, 
and  to  exercise  judgment  and  discretion  in  the 
use  of  money.  Many  young  men  never  have 
any  training  of  this  sort  till  they  become  of 
age.  Before  that  time,  whenever  they  wish 
for  money,  they  go  to  their  father  and  ask  for 
it.  They  take  all  they  can  get ;  and  when  that 
is  gone,  they  go  and  ask  for  more.  They  have 
no  direct  personal  motive  for  exercising  pru- 
dence and  economy,  and  they  have  no  experi- 
ence of  the  evils  that  result  from  thriftlessness 
and  prodigality.  It  is  much  better  for  all  chil- 
dren that  they  should  have  pecuniary  respons- 
ibilities, such  as  are  suited  to  their  years, 
thrown  upon  them  in  their  youth,  when  the 
mistakes  they  make  in  acquiring  their  experi- 
ence are  of  little  moment.     The  same  mistakes 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  25 

made  after  they  become  of  age  might  be  their 
ruin. 

In  carrying  the  system  into  effect  in  Rollo's 
case,  there  seemed  to  be  something  very 
abrupt,  at  least,  if  not  positively  harsh,  in  Mr. 
George's  mode  of  dealing  with  him.  And  yet 
Rollo  did  not  dislike  it.  He  felt  that  his  uncle 
was  treating  him  more  like  a  man,  on  this 
account,  or  rather  more  like  a  large  boy,  and 
not  like  a  child.  In  fact,  a  part  of  the  rough 
handling  which  Rollo  got  from  his  uncle  was 
due  to  this  very  circumstance — Mr.  George 
having  observed  that  he  did  not  mind  being 
knocked  about  a  little. 

After  dinner,  Rollo  proposed  to  his  uncle 
that  they  should  go  out  and  take  a  walk. 

44 1  will  go  with  you  a  few  minutes, "  said 
Mr.  George,  "and  then  I  must  return  to  my 
room,  and  write  up  my  journal. " 

"Say  half  an  hour,"  rejoined  Rollo. 

"Well,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "we  will  say 
half  an  hour. ' ' 

So  they  sallied  forth  upon  the  pier  behind 
the  hotel.  Mr.  George  took  a  general  survey 
of  the  harbor,  and  of  the  vessels  that  were 
lying  in  it,  and  also  of  the  peaks  and  headlands 
which  were  seen  at  the  mouth  of  it,  toward 
the  sea. 

"I  should  like  to  be  on  that  hill,"  said  Mr. 
George,  4tto  look  off  over  the  channel,  and  see 
if  I  could  discern  the  coast  of  France  from  it." 

"Let's  go  there,"  said  Rollo. 

"That  would  take  more  than  half  an  hour," 

replied  Mr.  G^m^tm  Library 

Pembroke  High  School 

Pembroke,  V 


26  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

4 'Well,  at  any  rate,  let's  go  on  board  the 
steamer,"  said  Rollo. 

So,  taking  Mr.  George  by  the  hand,  he  led 
him  along  to  the  brink  of  the  pier.  Mr. 
George  looked  over,  and  saw  the  steamer  lying 
at  rest  in  its  muddy  bed  below. 

44 Is  it  possible?"  said  Mr.  George,  in  a  tone 
of  great  astonishment. 

4 'Can  it  be  possible?"  repeated  Mr.  George. 

4'What?"  inquired  Rollo.  "What  is  it  that 
surprises  you  so  much?" 

"Why,  to  find  such  a  steamer  as  this  for  the 
travel  on  one  of  the  great  thoroughfares 
between  England  and  France.  Let's  go  down 
on  board. ' ' 

So  Mr.  George  led  the  way,  and  Rollo  fol- 
lowed down  the  plank.  The  plank  landed 
them  on  the  top  of  the  paddle  box.  From  that 
place,  a  few  steps  led  to  the  deck.  They 
walked  along  the  deck  a  short  distance  toward 
the  stern,  and  there  they  found  a  door,  and  a 
small  winding  staircase  leading  down  into  the 
cabin.  They  descended  these  stairs,  one  before 
the  other,  for  the  space  was  not  wide  enough 
to  allow  of  their  going  together;  and  when 
they  reached  the  foot  of  them  they  found 
themselves  in  a  small  cabin,  with  one  tier  of 
berths  around  the  sides.  The  cabin  was  not 
high  enough  for  two.  There  were  berths  for 
about  twenty  or  thirty  passengers.  The  cabin 
was  very  neatly  finished;  and  there  was  a  row 
of  cushioned  seats  around  it,  in  front  of  the 
berths.  In  one  corner,  by  the  side  of  the  door 
where  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  had  come  in,  was 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  27 

a  small  desk,  with  writing1  materials  upon  it 
This    Rollo  supposed  must  be  the  "captain's 
office." 

While  Mr.  George  sat  surveying  the  scene, 
and  mentally  comparing-  this  insignificant  boat 
to  the  magnificent  steamers  on  the  Hudson 
River,  in  America,  with  their  splendid  and 
capacious  cabins  on  three  different  decks,  their 
promenade  saloons,  sometimes  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  long,  with  ranges  of  elegant 
state  rooms  on  either  hand,  and  sofas,  and 
couches,  and  tete-a-tetes  without  number,  in 
the  middle,  his  perplexity  increased. 

"I  do  not  understand  it  at  all,"  said  he  to 
Rollo.  "I  thought  that  there  would  at  least 
be  as  much  traveling  between  London  and 
Paris,  the  two  greatest  cities  in  the  world,  as 
between  New  York  and  Albany.  And  yet 
there  are  half  a  dozen  steamers  every  day  on 
the  North  River,  carrying  from  five  hundred 
to  one  thousand  passengers;  while  here,  on 
the  most  direct  and  cheapest  route  between 
London  and  Paris,  is  one  single  steamer,  that 
could  not  possibly  carry  one  hundred  passen- 
gers, and  she  only  goes  once  in  two  days." 

Just  then  a  young  man,  who  seemed  to  be 
the  clerk  of  the  boat,  came  down  the  cabin 
stairs,  and,  seeing  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  there, 
he  asked  them  if  they  had  taken  their  berths. 
They  said  that  they  had  not;  but  they  imme- 
diately proceeded  to  choose  their  berths,  or 
rather  their  places,  for  there  were  no  divisions 
separating  the  sleeping-places  from  each  other 
except   what   was   formed    by    the    cushions. 


28  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

There  was  a  long  cushion  for  each  sleeper, 
covered  with  crimson  velvet  or  plush ;  and  a 
round  cushion,  shaped  like  a  bolster,  and  cov- 
ered in  the  same  way,  for  his  head.  On  these 
cushions  the  passengers  were  expected  to  lie 
down  without  undressing,  placing  themselves 
in  a  row,  head  to  head,  and  feet  to  feet.  Mr. 
George  chose  two  of  these  sleeping-places,  one 
for  himself,  and  the  other  for  Rollo,  and  the 
clerk  marked  them  with  a  ticket. 

Our  two  travelers  then  went  up  on  deck 
again,  and  from  the  deck  they  ascended  the 
plank  to  the  pier.  It  was  now  nearly  sunset, 
and  it  was  a  very  pleasant  evening.  They 
sauntered  slowly  along  the  pier,  until  they 
came  to  a  place  where  some  steps  led  down  to 
the  water.  There  were  several  small  boats  at 
the  foot  of  the  steps,  and  in  one  of  them  was  a 
man  doing  something  to  the  rudder.  Rollo 
saw  that  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  was 
another  long  staircase  leading  down  from  the 
bank  there,  so  as  to  form  a  landing-place  for 
small  boats  at  all  times  of  tide.  He  also 
looked  up  and  down  the  harbor,  but  he  could 
see  no  bridge,  and  so  he  supposed  that  this 
must  be  a  sort  of  ferry  for  the  people  who 
wished  to  cross  from  one  side  to  the  other. 

As  soon  as  the  man  who  was  in  the  boat  saw 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  standing  upon  the  pier, 
he  rose  up  in  his  boat,  and  touching  his  hat  at 
the  same  time,  or  rather  making  a  sort  of  jerk 
with  his  hand,  which  was  meant  to  represent 
a  touch  of  the  hat,  he  asked  him  if  he  would 
like  to  be  rowed  across  to  the  other  side, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  29 

"Why,  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"What's  the  ferriage?" 

"That's  just  as  the  gentleman  pleases,"  said 
the  man,  with  another  jerk  at  his  hat.  "And 
how  much  do  they  generally  please?"  said  Mr. 
George. 

4 'What's  the  common  custom?" 

"O,  gentlemen  gives  us  what  they  likes," 
said  the  man.  "We  always  leaves  it  to  them 
entirely. ' ' 

Mr.  George  was  silent.  After  a  moment's 
pause,  the  boatman  said  again, — 

"Would  you  like  to  go,  sir?  Very  nice 
boat." 

"Not  on  those  terms,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"If  you  will  tell  me  what  the  usual  ferriage  is, 
I  can  then  tell  you  whether  we  wish  to  go  or 
not." 

"Well,  sir,"  replied  the  man,  "gentlemen 
usually  gives  us  about  twopence  apiece. ' ' 

"Twopence  apiece.  Very  well,  we  will 
go." 

Mr.  George  did  not  wait  to  ask  Rollo 
whether  he  would  like  to  go  before  he  decided 
the  question.  He  would  have  considered  this 
a  mere  waste  of  time,  for  Rollo  was  always 
ready  to  go,  no  matter  where. 

So  they  got  into  the  boat,  and  were  rowed 
across  the  water.  They  ascended  the  stairs  on 
the  other  side,  and  walked  a  little  way  in  a 
smooth  road  which  led  along  the  bank.  Rollo 
wished  to  go  farther:  but  Mr.  George  said  that 
his  time  had  expired,  and  that  he  must  go  back. 
"But  you   may   stay,"    said  he  to  Rollo,  "as 


30  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

long   as   you  please,   provided  that  you  come 
back  before  dark. ' ' 

Rollo  was  much  pleased  with  this  permission, 
as  he  wished  to  go  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  at  the 
outlet  of  the  harbor,  and  look  at  the  prospect. 
He  promised  to  return  before  dark. 

"Have  you  any  change,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"to  pay  your  ferriage  back?" 

"No,"  said  Rollo,  "I  have  nothing  but  my 
five-franc  pieces." 

"Then  I  will  lend  you  twopence,"  said  Mr. 
George.  "You  can  pay  me  the  first  change  you 
get  in  France." 

"But  I  cannot  get  any  pennies  in  France," 
said  Rollo. 

"True,"  said  Mr.  George;  "you  will  get  sous 
there.  You  must  pay  me  four  sous.  A  penny 
is  equal  to  two  sous." 

"I  will  pay  your  bill  at  the  hotel,  too,"  con- 
tinued Mr.  George,  "as  I  suppose  they  will 
make  out  yours  and  mine  together,  and  you' 
can  pay  me  your  share  to-morrow,  when  we 
land.  Here  is  your  ticket,  however.  You 
must  take  charge  of  that." 

"But  suppose  I  lose  it?"  asked  Rollo. 

"Then  you  will  have  to  pay  over  again," 
said  Mr.  George;  "that  is  all.  You  will  lose 
about  twenty  francs;  unless,  indeed,"  he  con- 
tinued, "your  father  should  call  it  a  casualty. " 

So  Mr.  George  went  back  to  the  boat,  and 
Rollo  continued  his  walk,  thinking  on  the  way 
of  the  question  which  his  uncle  had  suggested, 
whether  his  father  would  consider  the  loss  of 
his  ticket  a  casualty  or  not.     He  determined. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  31 

however,  very  resolutely,  that  he  would  not 
lose  it;  and  so  he  put  it  away  safely  in  his 
wallet,  and  then  went  on.  The  road  was  very 
smooth  and  pleasant  to  walk  in,  being  bor- 
dered by  green  fields  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
water  of  the  harbor  on  the  other.  Rollo  came 
at  length  to  the  hill.  There  were  successive 
terraces,  with  houses  built  upon  them,  on  the 
sides  of  the  hill,  and  paths  leading  to  the  sum- 
mit. Rollo  had  a  fine  view  of  the  sea,  and  of 
the  vessels  and  steamers  which  were  passing 
slowly  in  the  offing,  on  their  way  up  and  down 
the  channel;  but  though  he  looked  long  and 
eagerly  for  the  coast  of  France,  it  was  not  to 
be  seen. 

Rollo  rambled  about  the  hill  for  a  consider- 
able time;  for  at  that  season  of  the  year  the 
twilight  continued  very  long,  and  it  did  not 
become  dark  till  quite  late.  When,  at  length, 
the  shadows  of  the  evening  began  to  shut  in 
upon  the  landscape,  he  returned  to  the  ferry 
and  the  ferryman  rowed  him  back  again  to 
the  hotel. 

It  was  now  nearly  nine  o'clock,  and,  of 
course,  three  hours  remained  before  the  time 
of  embarkation  would  arrive.  Rollo  was  not 
sorry  for  this,  as  he  thought  that  there  would 
be  enough  to  amuse  and  occupy  him  all  this 
time  on  and  around  the  pier.  His  first  duty, 
however,  was  to  go  and  report  himself  to  Mr. 
George  as  having  returned  from  his  walk. 
This  he  did.  He  found  his  uncle  very  busy  in 
his  room,  writing  his  journal. 

"Now,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  George,  "it  is  three 


32  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

hours  before  we  are  to  leave.  What  are  you 
going  to  do  all  that  time?" 

"O,  I  shall  find  plenty  to  amuse  myself 
with,"  said  Rollo. 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George.  "You  may 
play  about  wherever  you  are  sure  it  is  safe. 
Don't  go  near  the  edge  of  the  pier,  unless  there 
is  somebody  at  hand  to  pull  you  out  of  the  water 
with  a  boathook,  if  you  fall  in.  Amuse  yourself 
as  long  as  you  can ;  and  when  you  are  tired  of 
taking  care  of  yourself,  come  to  me,  and  I  will 
tell  you  what  to  do. ' '    k 

Rollo,  having  received  these  instructions, 
left  his  uncle  to  his  work,  and  went  away.  He 
descended  the  stairs,  and  went  out  upon  the 
pier  again,  and  after  amusing  himself,  by 
examining  everything  there,  he  concluded  to 
go  on  board  the  steamer.  A  train  of  cars  had 
arrived  from  London  while  he  and  his  uncle 
had  been  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  and 
there  were  now  several  new  passengers  in  the 
cabin,  who  were  choosing  and  marking  their 
berths,  or  talking  together  about  the  voyage. 

Rollo  thought  that,  in  order  to  make  sure 
that  his  ticket  was  all  right,  he  would  climb  up 
into  his  berth  and  see ;  and  then,  when  he  was 
there,  it  seemed  to  him  a  very  funny  place  to 
sleep  in ;  so  he  laid  down  his  head  upon  the 
round  cushion  to  try  it.  While  he  was  in  this 
position,  his  attention  was  attracted  by  the 
sound  of  children's  voices  on  the  stairs,  talking 
French.  Presently  these  children  came  into 
the  cabin.  Their  mother  was  with  them. 
There  were  two  of  them,  and  they  were  not 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  33 

more  than  five  or  six  years  old.  Rollo  was 
exceedingly  astonished  to  hear  such  little 
children  talk  French  so  well.  Rollo  listened 
to  see  if  he  could  understand  what  they  said. 
He  had  studied  French  himself  for  a  year  or 
two,  and  could  say  a  great  many  things.  In 
fact,  he  had  been  accustomed  to  consider  him- 
self quite  a  good  French  scholar.  But  he  now 
found  that  all  his  acquisitions  dwindled  into 
utter  insignificance,  when  compared  with  the 
power  over  the  language  possessed  by  these 
little  girls. 

The  French  party  did  not  remain  very  long 
in  the  cabin  where  Rollo  was,  but  passed  at 
once  through  a  door  which  led  to  a  small 
ladies'cabin  near.  There  were  other  persons, 
however,  continually  coming  and  going,  and 
Rollo  was  interested  in  watching  their  move- 
ments, and  in  listening  to  the  fragments  of 
conversation  which  he  heard.  He  found  his 
position  very  comfortable,  too,  and  the  sounds 
around  him  produced  so  lulling  an  effect,  that, 
before  long,  he  insensibly  closed  his  eyes.  In 
a  word,  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes  after  he 
climbed  up  into  his  berth  to  see  what  sort  of  a 
place  it  was,  he  had  put  it  fully  to  the  test  of 
experiment,  by  going  fast  asleep  in  it. 

In  about  half  an  hour  after  this,  Mr.  George, 
coming  to  the  end  of  a  paragraph  in  his 
journal,  laid  down  his  pen,  drew  a  long  breath, 
looked  out  the  window,  and  then  rang  the  bell. 
In  a  few  minutes  the  chambermaid  came. 

"Mary,"  said  he,  "I  wish  to  ask  the  porter 
to  go  out  and  look  about  on  the  pier,  and  in 

3    Paris 


S4  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

the  packet,  and  see  if  he  can  see  anything  of 
that  boy  that  came  with  me." 

44 Very  well,  sir,"  said  Mary,  with  a  quick 
courtesy ;  and  she  immediately  disappeared. 

In  about  five  minutes  she  came  back,  and 
said  that  the  young  master  was  in  his  berth  in 
the  packet,  sound  asleep. 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George,  in  his  turn. 
"Much  obliged  to  you."  He  then  went  on 
with  his  writing. 

The  first  thing  that  Rollo  himself  was  con- 
scious of,  after  falling  asleep  in  his  berth,  was 
a  feeling  of  some  one  pulling  him  gently  by 
the  shoulder.  He  opened  his  eyes,  and  saw 
before  him  a  face  that  he  did  not  exactly 
know,  and  yet  it  was  not  entirely  strange. 
The  man  had  his  hand  upon  Rollo's  shoulder, 
and  was  endeavoring  to  wake  him. 

"Your  ticket,  if  you  please,  sir." 

Rollo  stared  wildly  a  minute,  first  at  the 
man,  and  then  about  the  cabin.  It  was  night. 
Lamps  were  burning,  and  the  cabin  was  full 
of  people.  Some  were  in  their  berths,  some 
in  groups  on  the  seats,  and  one  or  two  were 
just  preparing  to  lie  down.  The  engine  was 
in  motion,  and  the  ship  was  evidently  going 
fast  through  the  water.  In  fact,  the  steamer 
was  rocking  and  rolling  as  she  went  on,  indi- 
cating that  she  was  already  far  out  at  sea. 

"Your  ticket,  if  you  please,  sir,"  repeated 
the  clerk. 

Rollo  glanced  around  to  his  uncle's  berth, and 
there  he  saw  his  uncle   lying  quietly  in  his 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  35 

place,  his  head  being  on  a  cushion  close  to  the 
one  on  which  Rollo's  head  had  been  lying. 

"Uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "he  wants  my 
ticket." 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  George,  without  moving, 
"give  him  your  ticket.  " 

Rollo  then  recollected  that  he  had  his  ticket 
in  his  wallet.  So,  after  fumbling  for  a  time  in 
his  pocket,  he  brought  out  his  wallet,  and  pro- 
duced the  ticket,  and  handed  it  to  the  clerk. 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  said  the  clerk,  taking  the 
ticket.  At  the  same  time  he  put  two  other 
tickets  in  Rollo's  wallet,  in  the  place  of  the 
one  which  he  had  taken  out.  As  he  did  this, 
he  pointed  to  one  of  the  small  ones,  saying, — 

"That's  for  the  landing." 

Rollo  shut  up  his  wallet,  and  put  it  in  his 
pocket. 

"A  shilling,  if  you  please,"  said  the  clerk. 

Rollo  had  no  shilling,  and  was  still  not  much 
more  than  half  awake.  So  he  turned  to  his 
uncle  again. 

"Uncle  George,"  said  he,  "he  wants  a  shill- 
ing." 

"Well,  pay  him  a  shilling,  then,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

Rollo  now  felt  for  his  purse,  and  taking  out 
one  of  his  five-franc  pieces,  he  gave  it  to  the 
clerk,  who,  in  return,  gave  him  back  a  quan- 
tity of  change.  Rollo  attempted  to  count  the 
change,  but  he  soon  perceived  that  his  ideas 
of  francs  and  shillings  were  all  in  confusion. 
So  he  turned  the  change  all  together  into  his 
purse,  put  the  purse  back  into  his  pocket,  lay 


36  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

his  head  down  upon  his  cushion  again,  shut  his 
eyes,  and  in  one  minute  was  once  more  fast 
asleep. 

Some  hours  afterward  he  woke  again,  of  his 
own  accord.  He  opened  his  eyes  and  looked 
about  him,  and  perceiving  that  it  was  morning, 
he  climbed  down  from  his  berth,  and  then 
went  up  upon  the  deck.  The  coast  of  France 
was  all  before  him,  in  full  view,  and  the 
steamer  was  rapidly  drawing  near  to  it.  He 
went  to  the  bow  of  the  vessel  to  get  a  nearer 
view.  He  saw  directly  before  him  a  place 
where  there  were  piers,  and  batteries,  and 
other  constructions  indicating  a  town,  while 
on  either  hand  there  extended  long  ranges  of 
cliffs,  with  smooth,  green  slopes  of  land  above, 
and  broad,  sandy  shores  below.  In  half  an 
hour  more  the  steamer  arrived  at  the  entrance 
of  the  harbor,  which  was  formed  of  two  long 
piers,  built  at  a  little  distance  from  each  other, 
and  projecting  quite  into  the  sea.  The  steamer 
glided  rapidly  along  between  these  high  walls 
of  stone,  until,  at  length,  it  entered  a  broad 
basin,  which  was  bordered  by  a  continuation  of 
these  walls,  and  hemmed  in  on  every  side 
beyond  the  walls  of  the  pier  with  ranges  of  the 
most  quaint,  and  queer,  and  picturesque- 
^  looking  buildings  that  Rollo  ever  saw. 

These  buildings  were  not  close  to  the  pier, 
but  were  back  far  enough  to  leave  room  for  a 
street  between  them  and  the  water.  Such  a 
street  is  called  a  quay.  Quays  are  built  in 
almost  all  the  cities  of  Europe  where  there  are 
rivers  or  basins  of  water  for  shipping;  and  they 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  37 

are  very  pleasant  streets  to  walk  in,  having 
usually  large  and  elegant  buildings  on  one 
side,  and  vessels  and  steamers  on  the  other. 

By  the  time  that  the  steamer  had  entered 
the  port,  almost  all  the  passengers  had  come 
up  from  below,  and  Mr.  George  among  the 
rest.  Mr.  George  came,  expecting  to  find  that, 
as  they  were  now  about  to  land,  the  baggage 
would  be  brought  out,  and  that  the  several 
passengers  would  be  called  upon  to  select  their 
own.  But  there  was  no  movement  of  this 
kind.  The  baggage  had  all  been  put  down 
into  the  hold  the  night  before,  and  now  the 
hatches  were  still  closed,  and  there  seemed  to 
be  no  signs  of  any  preparation  to  open  them. 

In  the  meantime,  the  steamer  gradually 
drew  near  to  the  pier.  The  engine  was 
stopped.  Ropes  were  thrown  out.  People  in 
queer  dresses,  some  of  them  soldiers,  who  were 
standing  on  the  pier,  caught  the  ropes  and 
fastened  them.  The  steamer  was  thus 
brought  to  her  place  and  secured  there. 

There  was  now,  however,  no  rush  to  get  on 
shore, — such  as  Rollo  had  always  been  accus- 
tomed to  witness  on  board  an  American 
steamer  on  her  arrival, — but  everything  was 
quiet  and  still.  By  and  by  a  plank  was  laid. 
Then  the  passengers  were  called  upon  to  get 
out  their  tickets.  Then  they  began  to  walk 
over  the  plank,  each  one  giving  up  his  land- 
ing ticket  as  he  passed. 

When  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  reached  the 
pier,  they  found,  on  looking  around  them,  that 
they  were  not  yet  at  liberty.     On  the  opposite 


38  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

side  of  the  quay  was  a  building,  with  a  sign 
over  it,  in  French,  meaning  custom  house 
office  for  packet  boats;  and  there  were  two 
long  ropes  stretched,  one  from  the  stem  and 
the  other  from  the  stern  of  the  steamer,  to  the 
opposite  sides  of  the  door  of  this  build- 
ing, so  as  to  enclose  a  space  on  the  quay, 
in  front  of  the  building,  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  hem  the  passengers  in,  and 
make  it  necessary  for  them  to  pass  through 
the  custom-house.  The  ropes  were  guarded 
by  soldiers,  dressed  in  what  seemed  to  Rollo 
the  queerest  possible  uniforms.  They  all 
talked  French  —  even  those  who  had  talked 
English  when  they  came  on  board  the  packet 
boat  on  the  other  side. 

"I  can't  understand  a  word  they  say,"  said 
Rollo. 

"Nor  I,"  said  Mr.  George;  "but  we  can 
watch  and  see  what  they  will  do. " 

It  did  not  require  long  watching  for  no 
sooner  had  Mr.  George  said  these  words  than 
he  observed  that  the  passengers  were  all  going 
toward  the  door  of  the  custom  house,  and  that, 
as  they  went,  they  were  taking  their  passports 
out.  Nobody  can  enter  France  without  a  pass- 
port. A  passport  is  a  paper  given  to  the  trav- 
eler by  his  own  government.  This  paper  tells 
the  traveler's  name,  describes  his  person,  and 
requests  that  the  French  government  will 
allow  him  to  pass  through  their  country. 
Frenchmen  themselves  must  have  a  passport, 
too,  though  this  is  of  a  little  different  kind. 
All  must  have  a  passport  of  some  kind  or  other, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS  39 

and  all  this  machinery  of  ropes  and  soldiers 
was  to  make  it  sure  that  every  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers had  the  proper  document. 

The  passengers  accordingly  took  out  their 
passports  as  they  went  into  the  custom  house 
door,  and  there  passed,  in  single  file,  before  an 
officer  seated  at  a  desk,  who  took  them  in 
turn,  opened  them,  copied  the  names  in  his 
book,  and  then  gave  them  back  to  the  owners. 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  followed  on  in  the  line. 
When  their  passports  had  been  given  back  to 
them,  they  went  on  with  the  rest  until  they 
came  out  from  the  custom  house  at  another 
door,  which  brought  them  upon  the  quay 
outside  of  the  ropes. 

"What's  to  be  done  next?"  said  Rollo. 

"I  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George. 
"I  suppose  we  shall  see  " 

There  was  an  omnibus  standing  near, 
marked,  "For  the  Iron  Road," — that  being  the 
French  name  for  railroad, — but  nobody  seemed 
to  be  getting  into  it.  In  fact,  the  passengers, 
as  fast  as  they  came  from  the  custom  house, 
seemed  all  very  quiet,  as  if  waiting  for  some- 
thing. A  great  many  of  them  seemed  to  be 
French  people,  and  they  fell  into  little  groups, 
and  began  to  talk  very  volubly  together,  some 
finding  friends  who  had  come  down  to  the  quay 
to  meet  them,  and  others  making  friends,  ap- 
parently, for  the  occasion,  of  the  soldiers  and 
idlers  that  were  standing  around. 

"Could  not  you  ask  some  of  them,"  said 
Rollo,  "what  we  are  to  do  next?" 

"I  cjon't  believe  they  would  understand  my 


40  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

French,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  am  sure  I 
don't  understand  theirs."  In  a  moment,  how- 
ever, he  turned  to  a  young  man  who  was  stand- 
ing near,  who  seemed  to  be  a  waiter  or  servant 
man  belonging  to  the  place. 

"Do  you  speak  English?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  man,  in  a  very  foreign 
accent,  but  yet  in  a  very  pleasant  tone. 

"What  are  we  waiting  for?"  asked  Mr. 
George. 

"You  will  wait,  sir,  for  the  baggages,  and 
then  for  the  visit  of  the  baggages." 

"How  long?"  said  Mr.  George. 

"Twenty  minutes,"  said  the  man.  He  also 
gave  Mr.  George  to  understand  that  he  and 
Rollo  might  go  and  have  some  breakfast,  if 
they  chose.  But  Mr.  George  thought  it  was 
not  safe  for  them  to  go  away  from  the  spot. 
So  they  waited  where  they  were. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  hatches  were  opened 
on  board  the  vessel,  and  the  sailors  began  to 
hoist  out  the  trunks.  As  fast  as  they  were 
brought  up  to  the  decks  men  took  them  on 
shore,  and  carried  them  into  the  custom  house 
by  the  same  door  where  the  passengers  had 
entered.  When  all  the  baggage  was  carried  in, 
the  ropes  were  taken  down,  and  the  passen- 
gers went  to  the  custom-house  door  again,  to 
attend  to  the  examination  of  the  baggage.  A 
soldier  stood  at  the  door  to  prevent  too  many 
going  in  at  a  time.  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
followed  the  rest,  and  at  length  it  came  their 
turn  to  have  their  trunks  examined.  This  was 
done    very    quick — the   officers  appearing   to 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  41 

think,  from  the  appearance  of  the  travelers, 
that  they  would  not  be  likely  to  have  any 
smuggled  goods  in  their  possession.  The 
officer,  accordingly,  just  looked  into  the  trunks, 
and  then  shut  down  the  lids,  and  marked  them 
passed.  A  porter  then  took  them  out  at  the 
side  door.  There,  on  Mr.  George's  telling 
them  in  French  that  they  were  going  to  Paris 
by  the  railroad,  the  trunks  were  put  upon  a 
cart,  while  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  got  into  the 
omnibus,  and  then  they  were  very  soon  driv- 
ing along  the  quay,  in  the  direction,  as  they 
supposed,  of  the  Paris  railway  station. 


42  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

JOURNEY  TO    PARIS. 

The  omnibus  which  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
had  entered  contained  several  other  passen- 
gers, some  of  whom  had  carpet  bags  and  valises 
with  them,  as  if  they,  too,  were  going  to  Paris. 
Besides  the  driver,  there  was  a  conductor, 
whose  place  was  upon  the  step  of  the  omni- 
bus, behind.  The  conductor  opened  and  shut 
the  doors  for  the  passengers  when  they  wished 
to  get  in  or  out,  and  took  the  fare. 

"How  much  is  the  fare?"  said  Rollo  to  Mr. 
George. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George,  shaking 
his  head.  He  spoke,  however,  in  a  very  uncon- 
cerned tone,  as  if  it  were  of  very  little  conse- 
quence whether  he  knew  or  not. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it,  then?" 
said  Rollo. 

"I  shall  say,  'How  much?'  to  him,  when  we 
get  out;  and  then,  if  I  do  not  understand  his 
answer,  I  shall  give  him  a  large  piece  of 
money,  and  let  him  give  me  back  as  much 
change  as  he  likes." 

Rollo  resolved  that  he  would  do  so,  too. 

Next  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  in  the  omnibus 
there  sat  a  gentleman  and  lady,  who  seemed 
to  be,  as  they  really  were,  a  new-married  pair. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  43 

They  were  making  their  bridal  tour.  The  lady- 
was  dressed  plainly,  but  well,  in  traveling 
costume,  and  she  had  a  handsome  morocco  car- 
riage bag  hanging  upon  her  arm.  The  gentle- 
man was  quite  loaded  with  shawls,  and  boxes, 
and  umbrellas,  and  small  bags,  which  he  had 
upon  his  lap  or  at  his  feet.  Besides  this,  the 
lady  had  a  trunk,  which,  together  with  that 
of  her  husband,  had  been  left  behind,  to  come 
on  the  cart.  She  was  very  anxious  about  this 
trunk,  for  it  contained  all  her  fine  dresses. 
Her  husband  was  interested  in  the  novel  sights 
and  scenes  that  presented  themselves  to  view 
in  passing  along  the  street;  but  she  thought 
only  of  the  trunk. 

"What  strange  costumes,  Estelle!"  said  he. 
"Look!  See  that  woman!  What  a  funny 
cap!" 

"Yes,"  said  Estelle;  "but,  Charley,  don't 
you  think  it  would  have  been  better  for  us  to 
have  brought  our  trunks  with  us  on  the  omni- 
bus?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  her  husband.  "It  is 
too  late  to  think  of  that  now.  I've  no  doubt 
that  they  are  safe  enough  where  they  are. 
Look!  There's  a  girl  with  wooden  shoes  on. 
Those  are  the  wooden  shoes  we  have  read 
about  so  often  in  books.     Look!" 

Estelle  glanced  her  eyes,  for  an  instant, 
toward  the  wooden  shoes,  and  then  began  to 
look  back  along  the  street  again,  watching 
anxiously  for  the  trunks. 

At  length  the  omnibus  approached  the 
station.       It    entered   through   a    magnificent 


44  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

portal,  under  an  arch.  There  was  a  soldier 
walking  back  and  forth,  with  his  musket  in  his 
hand,  bayonet  fixed,  to  guard  the  entrance. 
None  but  actual  travelers  were  allowed  to 
enter.  The  omnibus,  having  entered  the  court, 
stopped  before  a  splendid  portico,  where  there 
was  a  door  leading  into  the  building.  The 
passengers  paid  their  fares,  and  got  out.  On 
entering  the  building,  they  found  themselves 
in  a  spacious  apartment,  with  a  great  variety 
of  partitions,  offices,  enclosures,  and  railings, 
presenting  themselves  on  every  hand,  the 
meaning  of  all  which  it  was  very  difficult  to 
understand.  There  were  also  signs  marked 
first  class,  and  second  class,  and  third  class, 
and  placards  of  notices  to  travelers,  and  time 
tables,  and  various  similar  things.  On  the 
back  side  of  the  room  were  doors  and  windows 
looking  out  to  a  platform,  where  the  train  of 
cars  was  seen,  apparently  all  ready  to  set  off. 
Eut  the  partitions  and  railings  which  were  in 
the  way  prevented  the  company  from  going 
out  there. 

There  were  a  number  of  travelers  in  this 
room,  several  parties  having  arrived  there 
before  the  omnibus  came.  Many  of  these 
persons  were  waiting  quietly,  talking  in  little 
groups,  or  resting  themselves  by  sitting  upon 
their  carpet  bags.  Others  were  looking  about 
eagerly  and  anxiously,  wondering  what  they 
were  to  do,  or  trying  to  find  somebody  who 
could  tell  them  about  the  baggage.  Estelle 
was  the  most  restless  and  uneasy  of  all.     She 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  45 

went  continually  to  the  door  to  look  down  the 
road,  to  see  if  the  cart  was  coming. 

"Charles,"  said  she,  "what  a  shame  it  is 
that  they  don't  come  with  the  trunks!  The 
train  is  all  ready,  and  will  go  off  before  they 
come." 

"O,  no,"  said  her  husband;  "I  think  not. 
Don't  be  anxious  about  them.  I've  no  doubt 
they  will  be  here  in  time.  Come  with  me,  and 
let  us  look  about  the  station,  and  see  how  it 
differs  from  ours." 

But  Estelle  would  not  allow  her  thoughts  to 
be  diverted  from  her  trunk.  She  remained  on 
the  steps,  looking  anxiously  down  the  road. 
Some  of  the  other  passengers  who  were  un- 
used to  traveling,  seeing  her  look  so  anxious, 
and  not  understanding  what  she  said,  supposed 
that  some  accident  had  happened,  or  that  some 
unusual  delay  had  occurred,  and  they  began 
to  be  anxious  too.  Just  then  a  bell  began  to 
ring  out  upon  the  platform. 

"There!"  exclaimed  Estelle.  "The  train  is 
going!  What  shall  we  do?  Why  can't  you  ask 
somebody,  Charles?" 

"Why,  I  can't  speak  French,"  said  Charles, 
"and  they  would  not  understand  me  if  I  ask  in 
English." 

"Yes  they  would,"  said*  Estelle;  "I'm  sure 
they  would.  There  are  so  many  English  trav- 
elers going  on  these  roads  now,  that  it  must 
be  that  they  have  men  here  that  speak  English. 
There's  a  man,"  said  she,  pointing  to  a  person 
in  livery  who  was  standing  within  a  sort  i>^ 
enclosure. 


46  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

Mr.  Charles,  thus  urged,  walked  across  the 
hall  to  the  railing,  though  very  reluctantly, 
and  asked  the  man  if  he  could  tell  him  why 
the  trunks  did  not  come. 

"Sir?"  said  the  man,  in  French,  and  looking 
as  if  he  did  not  understand. 

44 Do  you  speak  English?"  asked  Mr.  Charles. 

44There,"  said  the  man,  pointing  across  the 
room.  Mr.  Charles  looked,  and  saw  another 
man,  who,  by  the  livery  or  uniform  which  he 
wore,  seemed  to  be  a  porter  belonging  to  the 
station,  standing  by  a  window.  He  accord- 
ingly went  across  to  ask  the  question  of  him. 

"Do  you  speak  English,  sir?"  said  he. 

44  Yes,  sare,"  replied  the  man,  speaking  with 
great  formality,  and  in  a  very  foreign  accent, 
making,  at  the  same   time,  a  very  polite  bow. 

44  What  is  the  reason  that  our  baggage  does 
not  come?"  asked  Mr.  Charles. 

44 Yes,  sare,"  replied  the  porter,  speaking  in 
the  same  manner. 

44 Why  does  not  it  come?"  asked  Mr.  Charles 
again.  "We  put  it  upon  a  cart  at  the  custom 
house,  and  why  does  not  it  come?" 

44 Yes,  sare,"  replied  the  porter,  with  another 
very  polite  bow. 

Mr.  Charles,  perceiving  that  the  porter's 
knowledge  of  English  consisted,  apparently,  in 
being  able  to  say,  "Yes,  sir,"  and  mortified  at 
the  absurd  figure  which  he  made  in  attempting 
to  make  useless  inquiries  in  such  a  way,  bowed 
in  his  turn,  and  went  back  to  Estelle  in  a  state 
of  greater  alienation  of  heart  from  her  than  he 
had  ever  experienced  before.      And  as  this 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  4? 

book  may,  perhaps,  be  read  sometimes  by  girls 
as  well  as  boys,  I  will  here,  for  their  benefit, 
add  the  remark,  that  there  is  no  possible  way 
by  which  a  lady  can  more  effectually  destroy 
any  kind  feeling  which  a  gentleman  may  enter- 
tain for  her  than  by  forcing  him  to  exhibit 
himself  thus  in  an  awkward  and  ridiculous 
light,  by  her  unreasonable  exactions  on  jour- 
neys, or  rides,  or  walks,  or  excursions  of  any 
kind  that  they  may   be  taking  together. 

Rollo  and  his  uncle  George  had  witnessed 
this  scene,  and  had  both  been  much  interested 
in  watching  the  progress  of  it.  Rollo  did  not 
know  but  that  there  was  some  real  cause  for 
solicitude  about  the  baggage,  especially  as  sev- 
eral of  the  lady. passengers  were  standing  with 
Estelle  at  the  door  seemed  to  be  anxiously 
looking  down  the  road. 

"Do  you  feel  any  anxiety  about  our  trunks 
coming?"  asked  Rollo. 

"Not  the  least,"  said  Mr.   George,  quietly. 

"Why  not?"  asked  Rollo.  "Are  you  sure 
that  they  will  come?" 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George;  "but  there  area 
good  many  excellent  reasons  why  I  should  not 
feel  any  anxiety  about  them.  In  the  first 
place,  I  have  some  little  confidence  in  the  rail- 
way arrangements  made  in  this  country. 
The  French  are  famous  all  the  world  over  for 
their  skill  in  systematizing  and  regulating  all 
operations  of  this  kind,  so  that  they  shall  work 
in  the  most  sure  and  perfect  manner.  It  does 
not  seem  at  all  probable  to  me,  therefore,  that 
they   can  manage  so  clumsily  here,  on  one  of 


48  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

the  great  lines  between  England  and  France, 
as  to  get  all  the  trunks  of  a  whole  steamer  load 
of  passengers  upon  a  cart,  and  then  loiter  with 
it  on  the  way  to  the  station,  and  let  the  train 
go  off  without  it." 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  "that's  a  good  reason; 
but  you  said  there  were  several." 

"Another  is,  that,  if  they  are  capable  of 
managing  so  clumsily  as  to  have  such  a  thing 
happen,  we  cannot  help  it,  and  have  nothing 
to  do  but  to  bear  it  quietly.  We  put  our  trunks 
in  the  proper  place  to  have  them  brought 
here.  We  could  not  have  done  otherwise, 
with  propriety,  for  that  was  the  regular  mode 
provided  for  conveying  the  baggage;  and  if 
there  is  a  failure  to  get  it  here,  we  are  not  to 
fret  about  it,  but  to  take  it  as  we  would  a 
storm,  or  a  break  down,  or  any  other  casualty 
— that  is,  take  it  quietly. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo;  "that's  a  good  reason. 
Are  there  anymore?" 

"There  is  one  more,"  said  Mr.  George; 
"and  that  is,  I  am  not  anxious  about  the  trunks 
coming  in  season,  for  I  don't  care  a  fig  whether 
they  come  or  not." 

"O,  uncle  George!"  exclaimed  Rollo. 

"I  do  not,"  said  Mr.  George;  "for  if  they 
do  not  come,  the  only  consequence  will  be 
that  we  shall  have  to  wait  two  or  three  hours 
for  the  next  train,  which  will  give  us  just  time 
to  ramble  about  a  little  in  this  queer-looking 
town  of  Dieppe,  and  get  some  breakfast,  and 
perhaps  have  some  curious  adventures  in  trying 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  49 

to   talk    French.       In   fact,    I  rather  hope  the 
baggage  won't  come." 

Mr.  George  was  destined  to  be  disappointed 
in  this  rising  desire,  for,  while  he  and  Rollo 
were  talking,  Estelle  came  running  in  to  her 
husband  with  a  countenance  full  of  joy,  saying 
that  the  cart  had  come,  and  urging  him  to 
come  and  get  their  trunks  off  as  quick  as  pos- 
sible. Her  eagerness  was  increased  by  hear- 
ing the  bell  again,  which  now  began  to  toll, 
leading  her  to  think  that  the  train  was  going 
off  immediately.  The  porters,  however, 
whose  business  it  was  to  carry  the  trunks  in, 
did  not  seem  to  be  at  all  disturbed  by  the 
sound,  but  began  to  take  off  the  trunks,  one 
by  one,  and  convey  them  up  into  the  station. 
Here  they  were  placed  upon  a  sort  of  counter, 
from  whence  they  were  taken  off  on  the  other 
side,  and  weighed  in  a  curiously  contrived  pair 
of  scales  placed  there  for  the  purpose.  If  any 
trunk  weighed  over  a  certain  number  of 
pounds, — the  amount  which,  according  to  the 
regulations  of  the  road,  each  passenger  was 
allowed  to  carry, — then  the  surplus  had  to  be 
paid  for.  There  was  a  little  office  close  to  the 
weighing  machine ;  and  as  fast  as  the  trunks 
were  weighed,  the  result  was  reported  to  the 
clerk,  who  made  out  a  bill  for  the  surplus, 
whatever  it  was,  and  the  passenger  paid  it 
through  an  opening.  If  there  was  no  surplus 
weight,  then  they  gave  the  passenger  a  similar 
bill,  which  was  to  be  his  check  for  his  trunk  at 
the  end  of  the  journey.  Everything  was,  how- 
i   Paris 


50  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

ever,  so  admirably  arranged,  that  all  this  was 
done  very  rapidly. 

Mr.  Charles,  when  he  found  that  the  trunks 
were  all  to  be  weighed,  proposed  to  go  with 
Estelle  to  the  cars,  so  as  to  get  a  good  seat  for 
her;  but  Estelle  chose  to  remain  and  make 
sure  that  her  trunk  was  attended  to.  It  hap- 
pened that  Mr.  George's  trunk  and  Rollo's 
were  weighed  among  the  first ;  and  as  soon  as 
they  got  their  checks,  Mr.  George  said, — 

"Now  for  our  seats  in  the  cars." 

"But  which   way  are  we  to  go?"  said  Rollo. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George.  "Go 
and  show  that  man  your  ticket,  and  ask  him 
where  we  are  to  go. ' ' 

"In  French?"  said  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George. 

So  Rollo  went  to  the  man  who  was  standing 
by  a  sort  of  gateway  which  led  through  a  par- 
tition railing,  as  if  he  were  there  to  guard  the 
passage ;  and  holding  up  his  little  pasteboard 
ticket,  he  said,  in  French, — 

"Where  to  go?" 

The  man  looked  at  the  ticket,  and,  seeing 
that  first  class  was  printed  upon  it,  he  pointed 
in  a  certain  direction,  and  said  something  in 
French,  speaking,  however,  in  so  rapid  and 
voluble  a  manner,  that  Rollo  could  not  under- 
stand a  single  word.  He,  however,  under- 
stood the  sign. 

"This  way,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo. 
"He  says  we  must  go  this  way." 

Following  the  indication  which  the  man  had 
given,  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  passed  out  upon 

Elementary  Library 
Pembroke  High  School 

Pembroke,  Virginia 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  51 

the  platform,  where  they  found  the  train  ready 
for  them.  There  were  various  attendants  upon 
the  platform,  dressed  in  a  quaint  sort  of  uni- 
form, the  livery,  as  it  were,  of  the  railroad 
company.  One  of  them  looked  at  Rollo's 
ticket,  and  then  opened  the  door  of  a  first-class 
car.  The  cars  were  made  like  those  in 
England,  ,  in  separate  compartments,  each 
compartment  being  like  a  large  coach,  with 
one  front  seat,  and  one  back,  facing  each 
other.  There  were  four  places ;  that  is,  room 
for  four  passengers  on  each  seat.  Of  course, 
only  those  at  the  ends  were  near  the  win- 
dow. 

Rollo  and  Mr.  George  took  the  two  seats 
nearest  the  window  on  the  side  where  they  got 
in,  as  one  of  the  seats  at  the  opposite  side  was 
already  occupied  by  a  gentleman.  The  gentle- 
man seemed  to  be  an  Englishman,  for  he  was 
reading  the  London  Times. 

Rollo  and  Mr.  George  had  been  seated  only 
two  or  three  minutes  before  Estelle  and  her 
husband  came  along,  Estelle  leading  the  way. 
The  attendant  opened  the  door  of  the  car,  and 
Estelle,  followed  by  her  husband,  got  in. 
They  passed  between  Mr.  George  and  Rollo, 
and  stood  there  for  a  moment,  looking  about 
for  a  good  seat.  A  freight  train  was  slowly 
trundling  by  at  this  time  on  an  adjoining  track, 
so  that  what  they  said  was  not  very  audible ; 
but  still,  Mr.   George  and  Rollo  could  hear  it. 

"I  want  a  seat  by  the  window,"  said  Estelle, 
"where  I  can  look  out  and  see  the  country. 
Ask  that  gentleman  if  he  would  not  be  willing 


52  kOLLO  IN  PARIS. 

to  take  a  middle  seat,  and  let  us  sit  together 
by  the  window." 

"We  had  better  go  to  some  other  car,"  said 
her  husband,  in  an  undertone.  "He  wishes 
to  see  the  country,  probably,  himself,  and  has 
come  early,  perhaps,  so  as  to  get  a  good  seat." 

"O,  no,"  said  Estella;  "this  is  a  very  nice 
car;  and  he  would  just  as  soon  change  as  not, 
I  have  no  doubt.     Ask  him,  Charley;  do." 

So  Estelle  moved  to  one  side  for  her  husband 
to  pass.  Mr.  Charles,  thus  urged,  approached 
the  gentleman,  and  said,  in  a  very  bland  and 
respectful  manner, — 

"Should  you  have  any  objection,  sir,  to 
move  your  seat,  so  as  to  let  this  lady  sit  by  the 
window?" 

The  gentleman  raised  his  eyes  from  his 
paper,  and  looked  at  Mr.  Charles  an  instant, 
and  then  answered,  quietly, — 

"I  prefer  this  seat,  sir." 

He  then  went  on  with  his  reading  as  before. 

Estelle  pouted  her  lip,  and  said,  though  in 
a  tone  too  low,  perhaps,  for  the  gentleman  to 
hear,  "What  a  rude  man!" 

"We  will  give  you  these  seats,  sir,"  said  Mr. 
George,  "if  you  would  like  them." 

44 Yes,  they'll  do  just  as  well,"  said  Estelle, 
speaking  to  her  husband. 

Mr.  George  rose,  and  saying,  "Come, 
Rollo,"  he  left  the  car. 

Mr.  George  had  some  trouble  in  looking  for 
other  seats;  but  at  length  he  succeeded  in 
finding,  two  that  were  as  good  as  those  which 
they  had  left. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  53 

"I  think  she  might  at  least  have  thanked 
you  for  giving-  up  your  seat  to  accommodate 
her,"  said  Rollo. 

"I  did  not  do  it  to  accommodate  her,"  said 
Mr.  George ;  '  'I  did  it  to  get  out  of  the  sight 
and  hearing  of  her.  I  would  not  ride  from 
here  to  Paris  in  the  same  car  with  such  a  fuss- 
maker  for  all  the  prospects  in  France.  I  had 
rather  be  shut  up  in  freight  car." 

''How  much  trouble  she  makes  her  hus- 
band!" said  Rollo. 

"It  is  not  the  trouble,"  said  Mr.  George,  "it 
is  the  mortification  and  annoyance.  She  is  a 
perpetual  torment.  If  that's  the  way  that 
young  wives  treat  their  husbands  on  the  bridal 
tour  I'm  thankful  that  I  am  not  a  bridegroom. " 

The  train  soon  set  out,  and  Mr.  George  and 
Rollo,  forgetting  Estelle,  soon  began  to  enjoy 
the  ride.  They  were  both  extremely  interested 
in  the  views  which  they  obtained  from  their 
windows  as  they  passed  along,  and  with  the 
antique  and  quaint  appearance  of  the  country 
— the  ancient  stone  cottages,  with  thatched 
roofs;  the  peasants,  in  their  picturesque 
dresses;  the  immense  tracts  of  cultivated  coun- 
try, divided  in  green  and  brown  patches,  like 
the  beds  of  a  garden,  but  with  no  fences  or 
enclosures  of  any  kind  to  be  seen ;  the  great 
forests,  with  trees  planted  closely  in  rows,  like 
the  corn  in  an  American  cornfield;  and  the 
roadways  which  they  occasionally  passed — 
immense  avenues,  bordered  on  either  hand 
with  double  rows  of  majestic  trees,  and  extend- 
ing across  the  country,    as    straight  as  the 


54  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

streets  of  a  city,  till  lost  in  the  horizon.  These 
and  a  thousand  other  things,  which  were  all  the 
time  presenting  themselves  to  view,  kept  the 
travelers  continually  full  of  wonder  and 
delight. 

After  going  on  thus  for  several  hours,  the 
train  stopped  in  a  very  spacious  depot,  where 
there  was  a  large  refreshment  room ;  and  as 
one  of  the  attendants  called  out  that  there 
would  be  ten  minutes  of  rest,  both  Mr.  George 
and  Rollo  got  out,  and  went  into  the  refresh- 
ment room.  They  found  a  great  multitude  of 
cakes  and  meats  spread  out  upon  an  immense 
counter,  and  dishes  of  every  kind,  all  totally 
unknown  to  them.  They,  of  course,  could  not 
call  for  anything;  but,  after  taking  a  survey, 
they  helped  themselves  to  what  they  thought 
looked  as  if  it  might  be  good,  and  then  paid  in 
the  same  way,  by  letting  the  girls  that  attended 
the  tables  help  themselves  to  money  which  the 
travelers  held  out  to  them  in  their  hands. 
They  then  took  their  seats  again  in  the  carj 
and  soon  afterward  the  train  moved  on. 

The  place  where  they  had  stopped  was 
Rouen,  which,  as  well  as  Dieppe  and  Paris, 
the  reader,  will  find,  on  examining  any  map  of 
France.  In  the  course  of  the  ride  from  Rouen 
to  Paris,  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  fell  into  quite 
a  conversation,  in  which  Rollo  received  a  great 
deal  of  very  good  advice  from  Mr.  George  in 
respect  to  the  care  of  himself  when  he  should 
get  to  Paris. 

"I  suppose  that  I  should  be  sure  to  get  lost," 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  55 

said  Rollo,  "if  I  should  attempt  to  go  out  in 
such  a  great  city  alone." 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "not  at  all.  A  per- 
son can  walk  about  a  great  way,  sometimes,  in 
a  strange  city,  without  getting  lost.  All  he 
has  to  do  is  to  take  care,  at  first,  to  go  only 
in  such  directions  as  that  he  can  keep  the  way 
home  in  his  mind." 

"I  don't  know  what  you  mean,  exactly,  by 
that,"  said  Rollo. 

"Why,  suppose  you  were  in  a  great  city,  and 
you  come  out  at  the  door  of  your  hotel,  and 
there  you  find  a  long,  straight  street.  You 
walk  along  that  street  half  a  mile.  Then  don't 
you  think  you  could  find  your  way  home?" 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo. 

"Certainly,"  said  Mr.  George,  "because  you 
have  it  in  your  mind  that  the  way  home  is 
directly  back  by  that  same  street,  till  you  come 
to  the  hotel.  Now,  suppose  that,  after  going 
along  in  that  street  for  half  a  mile,  you  should 
come  to  a  great  church,  upon  a  corner,  and 
should  turn  there  to  the  right,  and  go  for  some 
distance  in  another  street  leading  off  from  the 
first  one;  don't  you  think  you  could  then  find 
your  way  home?" 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "I  should  go  back  to  the 
church,  and  then  turn  to  the  left,  and  so  go 
home." 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George;  "by  proceed- 
ing cautiously  in  that  way,  carrying  your  way 
home  in  your  mind  with  you  all  the  time,  you 
can  ramble  a  great  deal  about  a  strange  city 


56  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

without    getting    lost,'    and    go    farther    and 
farther  every  day. 

"Then,  besides,  if  you  do  get  lost,  it  is  of  no 
consequence.  You  can  always  asks  the  way 
back ;  or,  if  worst  comes  to  worst,  you  can  take 
a  cab,  and  tell  the  man  to  drive  you  home." 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "I  suppose  I  could  always 
do  that." 

"Only  you  must  be  sure,"  said  Mr.  George, 
"not  to  forget  the  name  of  your  hotel.  Once 
I  was  walking  about  in  Paris,  and  I  saw  a  col- 
ored girl  on  the  sidewalk  before  me,  who 
seemed  to  be  inquiring  something  of  the  people 
that  she  met,  without  appearing  to  get  any  sat- 
isfactory answer.  I  thought  she  was  an 
American  girl ;  and  so  I  went  to  her,  and  asked 
her  in  French  what  she  wanted  to  know — for  I 
observed  that  she  was  speaking  French.  She 
said  she  wished  to  know  what  was  the  name  of 
the  hotel  where  most  of  the  Americans  lodged. 
I  could  not  speak  French  very  well  myself, 
and  so  I  could  not  ask  her  for  any  explanations; 
but  I  supposed  that  she  belonged  to  some 
American  party,  and  had  lost  her  way  in  going 
somewhere  of  an  errand,  and  had  forgotten  the 
name  of  the  hotel.  So  I  told  her  the  names  of 
two  or  three  hotels  where  Americans  were 
accustomed  to  lodge,  and  she  went  away." 

"Did  she  find  her  own  hotel?"  asked  Rollo. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George.  "I  never 
knew  what  became  of  her." 

"How  did  she  learn  French,  do  you  sup- 
pose?" asked  Rollo. 

"I  presume  she  came  from  New  Orleans," 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  57 

replied  Mr.  George,  "where  nearly  all  the 
people  speak  French." 

Thus  our  two  travelers  beguiled  their  jour- 
ney by  talking  sometimes  about  the  novel  and 
curious  objects  which  presented  themselves  to 
view,  in  the  landscape,  as  the  train  rolled  rap- 
idly along  on  its  way,  and  sometimes  about 
what  they  expected  to  see  and  to  do  on  their 
arrival  in  Paris.  At  length,  the  indications 
that  they  were  approaching  the  great  capital 
began  to  multiply  on  every  hand.  The  vil- 
lages were  more  frequent.  Villas,  parks,  and 
palaces  came  into  view ;  and  here  and  there 
an  ancient  castle  reposed  on  the  slope  of  a  dis- 
tant hill,  or  frowned  from  its  summit.  At 
length,  Rollo,  turning  his  head  to  the  window 
opposite  to  the  one  where  he  had  been  looking 
out,  exclaimed  suddenly, — 

"Look  there!     Uncle  George,  what's  that?" 

Mr.  George  said  that  that  was  Napoleon's 
famous  Triumphal  Arch,  that  forms  the  grand 
entrance  to  Paris,  on  the  way  to  the  royal 
palaces.  It  was  a  large,  square  building, 
splendidly  adorned  with  sculptures  and  archi- 
tectural ornaments,  and  towering  high  into  the 
air  out  of  the  midst  of  a  perfect  sea  of  houses, 
streets,  avenues,  trees,  gardens,  and  palaces, 
which  covered  the  whole  country  around.  It 
stood  upon  a  commanding  elevation,  which 
made  its  magnitude  and  its  height  seem  all 
the  more  impressive.  Through  the  center  of 
it  was  a  magnificent  archway,  wide  enough  for 
four  carriages  to  pass  abreast. 

"It   is   ih§   Triumphal    Arch/'    said  Mr. 


58  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

George,  "by  which  all  grand  processions  enter 
Paris  on  great  public  days  of  rejoicing.  We 
will  go  out  and  see  it  some  day.  It  is  called 
the  Triumphal  Arch  of  Neuilly,  because  it  is 
on  the  road  that  leads  to  Neuilly. ' ' 

By  this  time  the  Triumphal  Arch  had  passed 
out  of  view,  and  presently  the  train  of  cars 
began  to  be  shut  in  by  buildings,  and  the  usual 
indications  appeared  of  the  approach  to  a  great 
station.  Queer  looking  signals,  of  mysterious 
meaning, — some  red,  some  blue,  some  round, 
some  square, — glided  by,  and  men  in  strange 
and  fantastic  costumes  stood  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left,  with  little  flags  in  their  hands, 
and  one  arm  extended,  as  if  to  show  the  loco- 
motive the  way. 

At  length  the  convoy  (as  the  French  call  a 
railway  train)  came  to  a  stand,  and  an  attend- 
ant, in  uniform,  opened  the  door  of  the  car. 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  got  out  and  looked 
about,  quite  bewildered  with  the  magnificence 
of  the  scene  around  them.  The  station  was 
very  extensive,  and  was  very  spiendid  in  its 
construction,  and  there  were  immense  num- 
bers of  people  going  and  coming  in  it  in  all 
directions.  Still,  everything  was  so  well  regu- 
lated that  there  was  no  disorder  or  confusion. 
There  was  a  line  of  carriages  drawn  up  in  a 
certain  place  near  the  platform ;  but  the  coach- 
men remained  quietly  by  them,  awaiting  calls 
from  the  passengers,  instead  of  vociferously  and 
clamorously  offering  their  services,  as  is  cus- 
tomary at  the  stations  in  America.  Nor  was 
there  any  pushing  or  crowding  for  trunks  and 


ROLL®  IN  PARIS.  59 

baggage.  In  fact,  the  trunks  were  all  to  be 
examined  before  they  could  go  into  the  city ; 
for  there  are  separate  duties  for  the  city  of 
Paris,  in  addition  to  those  for  France.  The 
baggage  was,  therefore,  all  taken  from  the 
baggage  car,  and  arranged  in  an  immense 
apartment,  on  counters,  which  extended  all 
around  the  sides,  and  up  and  down  the  middle ; 
and  then,  when  all  was  ready,  the  passengers 
were  admitted,  and  each  one  claimed  his  own. 
Mr.  George  and  Rollo  easily  found  their  trunks, 
and,  on  presenting  their  tickets,  an  officer 
required  them  to  open  the  trunks,  that  he 
might  see  if  there  was  anything  contraband 
inside.  As  soon,  however,  as  he  perceived 
that  Mr.  George  and  Rollo  were  foreigners, 
and  that  their  trunks  had  come  from  beyond 
sea,  he  shut  down  the  lids  again,  saying,  "It  is 
well. ' '  A  porter  then  took  the  trunks  and 
carried  them  out  to  a  carriage. 

"Hotel  of  the  Rhine,  Place  Vendome, "  said 
Mr.  George,  in  French,  to  the  coachman,  by 
way  of  directing  him  where  to  go. 

"Yes — yes — yes — yes,"  said  the  coachman. 

It  is  so  natural  and  easy  for  the  French  to 
talk,  that  they  generally  use  all  the  words  they 
can  to  express  their  meaning,  besides  an  infin- 
ity of  gestures.  Thus,  when  they  wish  to  say 
yes,  they  often  repeat  the  yes  four  or  five  times, 
in  a  very  rapid  manner,  thus: — 

Yes — yes — yes — yes. 

Mr.  George  got  into  the  coach,  and  Rollo  fol- 
lowed him.  As  they  drove  along  the  streets, 
Rollo  tried  to  look  out  the  window  and  see; 


60  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

but  the  window  was  so  small,  and  the  streets 
were  so  narrow,  and  the  coachman,  moreover, 
drove  so  fast,  that  he  had  very  little  opportun- 
ity to  make  observations.  At  length  he  caught 
a  momentary  glimpse  of  a  monstrous  column 
standing  in  the  middle  of  an  open  square ;  and 
immediately  afterward  the  carriage  drove  in 
under  an  archway,  and  came  to  a  stand,  in  a 
small,  open  court,  surrounded  with  lofty  build- 
ings. This  was  the  hotel.  There  was  a  small 
room,  which  served  as  a  porter's  lodge,  in  this 
court,  near  where  the  coach  stopped.  A  girl 
came  to  the  door  of  this  lodge  to  receive  the 
guests.  She  bowed  to  Mr.  George  and  Rollo 
with  great  politeness,  and  seemed  glad  to  see 
them.  Mr.  George  spoke  to  her  in  French,  to 
say  what  rooms  he  wished  to  engage.  What 
he  said,  literally  translated,  was  this : — 

41  We  want  two  chambers  for  ourselves,  at  the 
third,  and  an  apartment  of  three  pieces,  at  the 
second,  for  a  gentleman,  lady,  and  their  young 
girl,  whom  we  attend  to-morrow." 

The  girl,  who  was  very  neatly  and  prettily 
dressed,  and  was  very  agreeable  in  her  manners, 
immediately  said,  "Very  well,"  and  rang  a 
bell.  A  servant  man  came  at  the  summons, 
and,  taking  the  trunks,  showed  Mr.  George 
and  Rollo  up  to  their  rooms, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  61 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    GARDEN    OF    THE    TUILERIES. 

The  first  Sunday  that  Rollo  spent  in  Paris 
he  met  with  quite  a  singular  adventure. 

His  father  and  mother  had  arrived  the  even- 
ing before,  and  had  established  themselves 
quite  comfortably  in  the  "apartment  of  three 
pieces,"  which  Mr.  George  had  engaged  for 
them.  An  apartment,  according  to  the  French 
use  of  the  term,  is  not  a  single  room,  but  a 
group  of  rooms,  suitable  to  be  occupied  by 
one  family.  The  number  of  pieces  is  the 
number  of  rooms. 

Mr.  Holiday's  three  rooms  were  a  small  but 
beautifully  furnished  parlor,  where  they  had 
breakfast,  and  two  bed  rooms.  One  bed  room 
was  for  himself  and  Mrs.  Holiday,  and  the 
other  was  for  Jennie.  There  were  a  great 
many  splendid  mirrors  in  these  rooms,  and 
other  elegant  furniture.  The  floors  were  not 
carpeted,  but  were  formed  of  dark  and  polished 
wood,  curiously  inlaid,  with  rugs  here  and 
there  at  the  doors  and  before  the  sofas  and 
chairs.  There  was  a  small,  square  rug  before 
every  chair,  and  a  large  one  before  the  sofa. 
There  were  a  great  many  other  curious  things 
to  be  observed  in  the  arrangements  of  the 
room.     The  fireplace,  for  example,  was  closed 


62  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

by  plates  of  sheet  iron,  which  could  be  shoved 
up  and  down  like  the  sashes  of  a  window; 
while  the  windows  themselves  opened  like 
doors,  each  having  a  great  brass  fastening, 
like  a  latch,  in  the  middle,  and  hinges  at  the 
sides. 

Rollo  had  gone  with  his  father  and  mother 
to  church  in  the  morning,  and  at  about  one 
o'clock  they  returned.  Rollo  and  Jennie  re- 
mained at  home,  after  one,  for  an  hour  or  two, 
waiting  for  their  uncle  George  to  come.  He 
had  gone  away  somewhere,  and  had  not  yet  re- 
turned. While  thus  waiting,  the  children  sat 
at  the  window  of  their  parlor,  which  they 
opened  by  swinging  the  two  sides  of  the  sash 
entirely  back,  so  that  they  could  see  out  to 
great  advantage.  The  window  opened  down 
quite  low;  but  there  was  a  strong  iron  bar 
passing  across  from  side  to  side,  to  keep  them 
from  falling  out.  The  children  sat  at  this 
window,  amusing  themselves  with  what  they 
could  see  in  the  square.  The  name  of  the 
square  was  the  Place  Vendome.  There  was  a 
very  large  and  lofty  column  in  the  center  of 
it.  This  column  is  very  greatly  celebrated  for 
its  magnitude  and  its  beauty.  It  is  twelve 
feet  in  diameter,  and  nearly  a  hundred  and 
forty  feet  high.  But  what  is  most  remarkable 
is,  that  the  whole  exterior  of  it,  enormous  as 
the  mass  is,  is  formed  of  brass.  The  brass  was 
obtained  by  melting  up  the  cannons  which 
Napoleon  took  from  his  enemies.  At  the  end 
of  one  of  his  campaigns  he  found  that  he  had 
twelve  hundred   cannons  which  he  had  taken 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  63 

from  the  Russians  and  Austrians,  with  whom 
he  had  been  at  war;  and  after  reflecting  for 
some  time  on  the  question,  what  he  should  do 
with  them,  he  concluded  to  send  them  to 
Paris,  and  there  to  have  them  made  into  this 
enormous  column,  to  ornament  the  center  of 
the  Place  Vendome. 

The  column,  though  made  of  brass,  is  not 
bright  upon  the  outside,  but  dark,  like  bronze, 
and  the  surface  is  ornamented  with  figures  in 
what  are  called  bas  relief,  representing  the 
battles  and  victories  in  which  the  cannon  out 
of  which  the  column  was  composed  were  taken 
from  the  enemy.   U 

Rollo  and  Jennie,  in  looking  at  this  column 
from  the  window  of  their  hotel,  observed  that 
around  the  foot  of  it  there  was  a  square  space 
enclosed  by  an  iron  railing,  forming  a  sort  of 
yard.  There  was  a  gate  in  the  front  side  of 
this  railing.  This  gate  was  open;  but  there 
were  two  soldiers  standing  by  it,  with  guns  in 
their  hands,  as  if  to  prevent  anybody  from 
going  in. 

The  column  itself,  as  is  usual  with  such  col- 
umns, did  not  stand  directly  upon  the  ground, 
but  upon  a  square  pedestal,  which  was  built 
of  massive  blocks  of  granite,  resting  on  a  deep 
and  strong  foundation;  and  as  the  column  it- 
self was  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  the  pedestal, 
being  necessarily  somewhat  larger,  was  quite  a 
considerable  structure.  In  the  front  of  it, 
opposite  the  gate  in  the  iron  railing,  was  a 
door.  The  door  was  open,  but  nothing  was  to 
be  seen  but  darkness  within. 


64  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

"I  wonder  what  they  do  in  there?"  said 
Rollo.  "The  gate  is  open,  and  the  door  is 
open ;  but  I  suppose  the  soldiers  would  not  let 
anybody  go  in  to  see.  Do  you  suppose,  Jennie, 
that  it  can  be  possible  that  there  is  any  way  to 
get  up  to  the  top  of  the  column  by  going  in  at 
that  door?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Jennie;  and  so  saying,  she 
pointed  eagerly  to  the  top  of  the  column,  and 
added,  "For  there  are  some  boys  up  there 
now. ' ' 

Rollo  looked  up  to  the  top  of  the  column. 
There  was  a  statue  of  Napoleon  upon  the  sum- 
mit, which  appeared  to  be  of  about  the  ordi- 
nary size  of  a  man,  though  it  is  really  about 
eight  times  as  large  as  life,  being  twice  as 
large  in  every  dimension.  It  looks  small  on 
account  of  its  being  so  high  in  the  air.  Be- 
neath this  statue  and  around  the  top  of  the  col- 
umn the  children  saw  that  there  was  a  small 
gallery,  with  a  railing  on  the  outside  of  it.  Sev- 
eral persons  were  standing  on  this  gallery, 
leaning  on  the  railing.  At  first  Rollo  thought 
that  they  were  sculptured  figures  placed  there, 
like  the  statue  of  Napoleon  on  the  top,  for 
ornament;  but  presently  he  saw  some  of  them 
move  about,  which  convinced  him  that  they 
were  real  men.  Two  of  them  were  soldiers,  as 
was  evident  from  the  red  uniform  which  they 
wore.     But  they  all  looked  exceedingly  small. 

"There  must  be  a  staircase  inside,"  said 
Rollo,  "or  else  some  ladders.  If  not,  how 
could  those  men  get  up?" 

"Yes,"  said  Jennie. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  65 

"I  should  like  to  go  up  there  very  much, " 
said  Rollo,  "if  I  could  only  get  by  the  sol- 
diers." 

"I  should  not  dare  to  go  up  to  such  a  high 
place,"  said  Jennie,  shaking  her  head  sol- 
emnly. 

At  the  foot  of  the  column  and  outside  of  the 
railing  which  formed  the  enclosure  around  the 
pedestal  was  a  very  broad  and  smooth  place, 
as  smooth  as  a  floor,  and  raised  like  a  sidewalk 
above  the  street.  It  was  very  broad,  and 
people  walked  over  it  in  passing  through  the 
square.  There  was  only  one  way  of  passing 
through  the  square,  and  that  was  from  north 
to  south.  From  east  to  west  there  was  no 
street,  but  the  ranges  of  houses  and  palaces 
continued  on  those  sides  unbroken.  These 
edifices  presented  a  very  fine  architectural 
frontage  toward  the  square,  and  gave  to  the 
whole  space  which  they  enclosed  a  very  rich 
and  grand  appearance.  Over  the  doors  of  two 
or  three  of  the  houses  there  were  small  tricol- 
ored  flags  flying;  and  wherever  these  flags 
were,  there  were  soldiers  on  the  sidewalk  be- 
low guarding  the  doors.  But  neither  Rollo 
nor  Jennie  was  able  to  imagine  what  this  could 
mean. 

About  three  o'clock,  when  Rollo  and  Jennie 
had  began  to  be  tired  of  looking  at  the  col- 
umn, their  mother  came  into  the  room.  She 
said  that  Mr.  Holiday  was  fatigued  and  was 
going  to  lie  down,  and  that  neither  he  nor  her- 
self would  go  out  again.  Rollo  then  asked  if 
he  and  Jennie  might  go  out  and  take  a  walk. 

5    Paris 


66  ROlLO  IN  PARIS. 

His  mother  seemed  to  hesitate  about  it,  but 
presently  said  that  she  would  go  and  ask  Mr. 
Holiday  if  he  thought  it  would  be  safe.  She 
accordingly  went  into  the  bed  room,  and  very 
soon  returned,  saying  that  Mr.  Holiday 
thought  it  would  be  safe  for  them  to  go  if  he 
gave  them  some  directions. 

4 'He  says,"  added  Mrs.  Holiday,  "that  you 
may  get  ready,  and  then  go  into  his  room,  and 
he  will  give  you  the  directions.  Only  you 
must  not  talk  much  with  him,  for  it  hurts  him 
to  talk.  Hear  what  he  has  to  say.  and  then 
come  out  immediately. " 

So  the  children  made  themselves  ready,  and 
then  went  into  their  father's  room.  They 
found  him  sitting  in  a  great  arm  chair  by  a 
window  where  the  sun  was  shining.  He 
looked  pale  and  tired.  When  the  children  came 
in,  however,  he  turned  to  them  with  a  smile, 
and  said: 

"Children,  I  am  glad  you  are  going  out  to 
take  a  walk.  You  can  go  very  safely,  if  you 
follow  my  directions. 

"This  is  the  Place  Vendome.  There  are 
only  two  ways  of  going  out  of  it.  One  leads 
to  the  north,  and  the  other  to  the  south. 

"If  you  take  the  road  which  goes  to  the 
north,  that  is,  that  way, "  said  Mr.  Holiday, 
pointing,  "you  will  go  out  by  the  street  which 
is  called  the  Street  of  Peace.  The  Street  of 
Peace  is  straight,  and  pretty  broad;  and  if  you 
follow  it  to  the  end  of  it,  you  will  come  to  the 
Boulevards." 

"What  are  the  Boulevards?"  asked  Rollo. 


ROLLO  IN  PAklS.  63 

"Hush!"  said  Jennie,  gently  touching  Rollo 
at  the  same  time  with  her  hand. 

"Boulevards,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "means 
bulwarks.  A  great  many  years  ago  there  was 
a  line  of  bulwarks  or  fortifications  all  around 
Paris;  but  at  length,  when  the  city  grew  too 
large  for  them,  they  leveled  them  down  and 
made  a  very  broad  and  handsome  street  where 
they  had  been,  and  then  afterward  made  a 
new  line  of  fortifications  farther  out.  This 
broad  and  handsome  street,  or  rather,  series  of 
streets,  is  called  the  Boulevards.  It  extends 
almost  entirely  around  the  city.  Of  course, 
when  you  get  into  the  Boulevards,  you  are  in 
no  danger  of  losing  yourselves ;  for  you  can  go 
on  as  far  as  you  please,  either  way,  and  then 
come  back  to  the  Street  of  Peace  again,  and 
then  come  home." 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "I  understand." 

Here  Jennie  gently  touched  Rollo  again,  to 
remind  him  that  he  was  not  to  talk. 

"You  will  know  the  Boulevards  at  once  when 
you  come  to  them,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday, 
"they  are  so  much  broader  and  more  beautiful 
than  any  of  the  other  streets  of  Paris.  Even 
the  sidewalks  are  as  wide  as  many  ordinary 
streets;  and  there  are  rows  of  young  trees 
along  the  edges  of  the  sidewalks.  Now,  if 
you  choose,  you  can  go  out  from  the  Place 
Vendome  on  the  northern  side,  by  the  Street 
of  Peace,  and  so  walk  on  till  you  come  to  the 
Boulevards.  Then  you  can  walk  along  the 
Boulevards  as  far  as  you  please. 

"Or,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday,  "you  can  take 


68  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

the  opposite  course.  You  can  go  out  of  the 
Place  Vendome  on  the  southern  side.  That 
will  bring  you  directly  in  the  garden  of  the 
Tuileries. " 

"I  should  like  to  go  into  a  garden,"  said 
Jennie,  "and  see  the  flowers." 

"You  will  see,"  continued  Mr.  Holiday,  "as 
soon  as  you  begin  to  go  out  of  the  Place  Ven- 
dome, at  a  little  distance  before  you,  perhaps 
as  far  as  two  or  three  blocks  in  New  York,  a 
wall  of  green  trees. 

"A  wall  of  green  trees!"  exclaimed  Rollo. 

' '  Yes, ' '  said  his  father.  "It  is  a  thick  row  of 
trees  growing  in  the  garden,  and  having  the 
side  toward  the  street  trimmed  smooth  and 
straight  like  a  wall.  The  entrance  through 
this  range  of  trees,  opposite  the  gateway  where 
you  go  into  the  garden,  looks  like  an  archway 
in  a  green  wall.  You  will  see  it  before  you  as 
soon  as  you  turn  the  corner  of  this  hotel  into 
the  street  that  leads  that  way.  You  can  walk 
straight  on  till  you  come  to  the  place.  There 
you  will  find  the  entrance  to  the  garden. 
There  is  a  very  high  iron  palisade  along  the 
side  of  the  garden  toward  the  street,  with  the 
rows  of  trees  which  I  have  spoken  of  inside  of 
it.  There  is  a  gateway  through  this  palisade 
where  you  can  go  in.  There  are  two  soldiers 
there  to  guard  the  gateway." 

"Then  how  can  we  get  in?"  asked  Jennie 

"O,  go  right  in,"  replied  Mr.  Holiday 
"Pay  no  attention  to  the  soldiers.  They  will 
not  say  anything  to  you.  Tkey  are  only  senti- 
nels." 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  69 

" After  you  pass  through  the  gateway,  you 
keep  on  in  the  same  direction,  without  turning 
to  the  righ  hand  or  to  the  left,  just  as  if  you 
were  going  across  the  garden.  You  go  on  in 
this  way  till  you  get  to  the  middle  alley,  which 
is  a  very  wide  alley,  that  runs  up  and  down 
the  middle  of  the  garden.  This  alley  is  called 
the  Grand  Alley,  and  it  is  a  very  grand  alley, 
indeed.  It  is  as  broad  as  a  very  wide  street, 
and  it  is  nearly  two  miles  long.  It  begins  at 
the  palace  of  the  Tuileries,  in  the  middle  of 
the  city,  and  extends  through  the  whole  length 
of  the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries;  and  then, 
passing  out  through  great  gates  at  the  foot  of 
the  garden,  it  extends  through  the  Elysian 
Fields,  away  out  to  the  great  Triumphal  Arch 
of  the  Star,  which  you  saw  from  the  cars  when 
you  were  coming  into  the  city. 

4 'Now,  when  you  get  into  the  Grand  Alley, 
which  you  will  know  by  its  being  the  broad- 
est, and  smoothest,  and  most  splendid  grand 
walk  that  you  ever  saw,  you  must  stop  for  a 
minute,  and  look  both  ways.  I'll  tell  you 
what  you  will  see.  First,  if  you  turn  to  the 
left,  that  is,  toward  the  east,  you  will  see  at 
the  end  of  the  alley,  in  that  direction,  a  long 
range  of  splendid  buildings,  extending  across 
from  side  to  side.  In  the  opposite  direction, 
at  the  top  of  a  long,  gentle  slope,  a  mile  and  a 
half  away,  you  will  see  the  grand  Triumphal 
Arch  That  is  at  the  barrier  of  the  city.  The 
view  is  not  entirely  open,  however,  out  to  the 
arch.  About  midway,  in  the  center  of  the 
Grand  Alley,  is   a  tall  obelisk,  standing  on  a 


70  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

high  pedestal,  and  farther  along  there  are  one 
or  two  fountains.  Still  you  can  see  the  Tri- 
umphal Arch  very  plainly,  it  is  so  large,  and  it 
stands  so  high. 

"Now,  the  Grand  Alley  is  nearly  two  miles 
long,  and,  wherever  you  may  be  in  it,  you  can 
always  see  the  palace  at  one  end,  the  arch  at 
the  other,  and  the  Egyptian  obelisk  in  the  mid- 
dle. So  that,  as  long  as  you  walk  back  and 
forth  in  this  alley,  keeping  these  things  in 
sight,  you  cannot  lose  your  way. 

"Only  I  ought  to  say,"  continued  Mr.  Holi- 
day, "that  the  garden  does  not  extend  all  the 
way  to  the  barrier.  The  garden  extends,  per- 
haps, half  a  mile.  Near  the  bottom  of  it  is  a 
great  basin  or  pond  of  water,  with  a  stone  mar- 
gin to  it  all  around.  You  will  have  to  go 
round  this  basin,  for  the  center  of  it  is  exactly 
in  the  middle  of  the  Grand  Alley.  Then  you 
come  very  soon  to  the  end  of  the  garden,  and 
you  will  go  out  through  great  iron  gates,  but 
still  you  will  keep  on  in  the  same  direction. 
Here  you  will  come  to  a  very  large,  open 
square,  with  the  obelisk  in  the  center  of  it,  and 
fountains  and  statues  in  it  all  around.  Still 
you  will  keep  straight  on  across  this  square, 
only  you  will  have  to  turn  aside  to  go  round 
the  obelisk.  After  you  pass  through  the 
square,  the  Grand  Alley  still  continues  on, 
though  now  it  becomes  a  Grand  Avenue, 
leading  through  pleasure  grounds,  with  ranges 
of  trees  and  of  buildings  on  either  side.  It 
becomes  very  wide  here,  being  as  wide  as  two 
pr  three  ordinary  streets,  and  will  be  filled  with 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  71 

carriages  and  horsemen.  But  there  will  be 
good  broad  sidewalks  for  you  on  either  hand, 
under  the  shade  of  the  trees ;  and  you  will 
know  where  you  are  all  the  time,  for  you  can 
always  see  the  palace  at  one  end  of  the  view, 
and  the  great  Triumphal  Arch  at  the  other, 
with  the  obelisk  in  the  middle  between  them. 

"The  amount  of  it  is,"  added  Mr.  Holiday, 
speaking  in  a  tone  as  if  he  were  about  finishing 
his  instructions,  "you  can  go  out  of  the  Place 
Vendome  to  the  north,  and  keep  straight  on 
till  you  come  to  the  Boulevards,  and  walk  there 
either  way  as  far  as  you  like.  Or  you  can  go 
south,  and  keep  straight  on  till  you  come  to  the 
middle  of  the  Grand  Alley,  of  the  garden  of 
the  Tuileries,  and  then  walk  in  the  Grand 
Alley  and  the  Grand  Avenue  which  forms  the 
continuation  of  it  as  long  as  you  like.  Which 
way  will  you  go?" 

"I  would  rather  go  to  the  garden,"  said 
Rollo,  looking  toward  Jennie. 

"Yes,"  said  Jennie,  "and  so  would  I." 

Thus  it  was  settled  that  they  were  to  take 
the  street  which  led  toward  the  south  from  the 
Place  Vendome ;  and  so,  bidding  their  father 
good-by,  they  went  away.  Before  leaving  the 
house,  however,  Rollo  went  to  a  secretary 
which  stood  in  the  parlor,  and  took  down  a 
map,  in  order  to  show  Jennie  the  places  which 
his  father  had  mentioned,  and  to  make  it  sure 
that  they  understood  the  directions  which  they 
had  received.  Rollo  found  the  Place  Vendome 
very  readily  upon  the  map,  and  the  street  lead- 
ing to  the  gardens.       He  also  found  the  Grand 


72  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

Alley  running  through  the  garden ;  and  follow- 
ing this  alley  between  the  rows  of  trees,  he 
showed  Jennie  a  small  circle  which  he  thought 
must  be  the  basin  of  water,  and  the  place 
where  the  obelisk  stood ;  and  finally  he  pointed 
out  the  place  where  the  Grand  Alley  widened 
out  into  the  Grand  Avenue  and  led  on  toward 
the  barrier. 

Jennie  did  not  understand  the  map  very 
well;  but  she  seemed  satisfied  with  Rollo's 
assurances  that  he  himself  could  find  all  the 
places. 

4 'It  is  all  right,  you  may  depend,"*  said 
Rollo.     "I  can  find  the  way,  you  may  be  sure. " 

So  he  put  up  the  map,  bade  his  mother  good- 
by,  and  then  he  and  Jennie  sallied  forth. 

The  hotel  was  situated  on  the  corner  of  the 
Place  Vendome  and  the  street  which  led 
toward  the  garden ;  and  as  soon  as  the  children 
had  turned  this  corner,  after  coming  out  from 
under  the  archway  of  the  hotel,  they  saw  at 
some  distance  before  them,  at  the  end  of  the 
street,  the  iron  palisade,  and  the  green  wall 
of  trees  above  it,  which  formed  the  boundary 
of  the  garden. 

4 'There  it  is!"  exclaimed  Rollo.  "There  is 
the  garden  and  the  gateway!  and  it  is  not  very 
far!" 

The  children  walked  along  upon  the  side- 
walk hand  in  hand,  looking  sometimes  at  the 
elegant  carriages  which  rolled  by  them  from 
time  to  time  in  the  street,  and  sometimes  at 
the  groups  of  ladies  and  children  that  passed 
them  on  the  sidewalk.     At  the  first  corner  that 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  73 

they  came  to,  Rollo' s  attention  was  attracted 
by  the  sight  of  a  man  who  had  a  box  on  the 
edge  of  the  sidewalk,  with  a  little  projection 
on  the  top  of  it  shaped  like  a  man's  foot. 
Rollo  wondered  what  it  was  for.  Just  before 
he  reached  the  place,  however,  he  saw  a  gen- 
tleman, who  then  happened  to  come  along, 
stop  before  the  box  and  put  his  foot  on  the  pro- 
jection. Immediately  the  man  took  out  some 
brushes  and  some  blacking  from  the  inside  of 
the  box,  which  was  open  on  the  side  where  the 
man  was  standing,  and  began  to  brush  the 
gentleman's  boot. 

"Now,  how  convenient  that  is!"  said  Rollo. 
"If  you  get  your  shoes  or  your  boots  muddy  or 
dusty,  you  can  stop  and  have  them 
brushed." 

So  saying,  he  looked  down  at  his  own  boots, 
almost  in  hopes  that  he  should  find  that  they 
needed  brushing,  in  order  that  he  might  try 
the  experiment;  but  they  looked  very  clean 
and  bright,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  excuse 
for  having  them  brushed  again. 

Besides,  Jennie  was  pulling  him  by  the  hand, 
to  hasten  him  along.  She  said  at  the  same 
time,  in  an  undertone: 

"Look,  Rollo,  look!  See!  there  is  a  blind 
lady  walking  along  before  us!" 

"Blind?"  repeated  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Jennie;  "don't  you  see  the  little 
dog  leading  her?" 

There  was  a  little  dog  walking  along  at  a  lit- 
tle distance  before  the  lady,  with  a  beautiful 
collar  round  his  neck,  and  a  cord  attached  to  it. 


74  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

The  lady  had  the  other  end  of  the  cord  in  her 
hand. 

"I  don't  believe  she  is  blind,"  said  Rollo. 

As  the  children  passed  by  the  lady,  she 
turned  and  looked  at  them,  or  seemed  to  look, 
and  manifested  no  indications  of  being  blind. 
Afterward  Jennie  saw  a  great  many  other 
ladies  walking  with  little  dogs,  which  they  led, 
or  which  led  them,  by  means  of  a  cord  which 
the  owner  of  the  dog  held  in  her  hand.  There 
were  so  many  of  these  cases  that  Jennie  was 
compelled  to  give  up  the  idea  of  their  being 
blind ;  but  she  said  that  she  never  knew  any- 
body but  blind  people  led  about  by  dogs  be- 
fore. 

At  length  the  children  arrived  at  the  entrance 
to  the  garden.  It  was  on  the  farther  side  of  a 
broad  and  beautiful  street  which  ran  along 
there,  just  outside  of  the  enclosure.  The  pali- 
sades were  of  iron,  though  the  tops  were  tipped 
with  gilding,  and  they  were  very  high.  They 
were  more  than  twice  as  high  as  a  man's  head. 
The  lower  ends  of  them  were  set  firmly  in  a 
wall  of  very  substantial  masonry.  The  gate 
way  was  very  wide,  and  it  had  sentry  boxes  on 
each  side  of  it.  A  soldier,  with  his  bayonet 
fixed,  was  standing  in  front  of  each  sentry  box. 
When  Jennie  saw  these  soldiers  she  shrank 
back,  and  seemed  afraid  to  go  in.  In  fact, 
Rollo  himself  appeared  somewhat  disposed  to 
hesitate.  In  a  moment,  however,  a  number  of 
persons  who  came  along  upon  the  sidewalk 
turned  in  at  the  gates,  and  went  into  the  yard. 
The    soldiers    paid    no     attention    to    them. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  75 

Rollo  and  Jane,  seeing  this,  took  courage,  and 
went  in,  too. 

On  passing  through  the  gates,  the  children 
found  themselves  on  a  very  broad  terrace, 
which  ran  along  on  that  side  of  the  garden. 
The  surface  of  the  terrace  was  graveled  for  a 
walk,  and  it  was  very  smooth  and  beautiful. 
While  standing  on,  or  walking  upon  it,  you 
could  look  on  one  side,  through  the  palisade, 
and  see  the  carriages  in  the  street,  and  on  the 
other  side  you  could  look  over  a  low  wall  down 
into  the  garden,  which  was  several  feet  below. 
The  descent  into  the  garden  was  by  a  flight  of 
stone  steps.  The  children,  after  staying  a  lit- 
tle time  upon  the  terrace,  went  down  the  steps. 
They  came  out  upon  a  very  broad  avenue,  or 
alley,  which  formed  the  side  of  the  garden. 
This  alley  was  very  broad,  indeed,  so  broad 
that  it  was  divided  into  three  by  orange  trees, 
which  extended  up  and  down  in  long  rows  par- 
allel to  the  street,  almost  as  far  as  you  could 
see,  and  forming  beautiful  vistas  in  each  direc- 
tion. These  orange  trees,  though  very  large, 
were  not  set  in  the  ground,  but  were  planted 
in  monstrous  boxes,  painted  green  and  set  on 
rollers.  The  reason  of  this  was,  so  that  they 
could  be  moved  away  in  the  winter,  and  put  in 
a  building  where  they  could  be  kept  warm. 

This  broad  alley,  the  great  side  alley  of  the 
garden  on  the  side  toward  the  city,  was  called 
the  Alley  of  the  Oranges.  There  is  another 
similar  alley  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  garden, 
which  is  toward  the  river,  and  that  is  called 
the  Alley  of  the  Riverside. 


76  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

Passing  across  the  three  portions  of  the  Alley 
of  the  Oranges,  the  children  went  on  toward 
the  center  of  the  garden.  Instead,  however, 
of  such  a  garden  as  they  had  expected  to  see, 
with  fruits  and  flowers  in  borders  and  beds, 
and  serpentine  walks  winding  among  them,  as 
Jennie  had  imagined,  the  children  found 
themselves  in  a  sort  of  forest,  the  trees  of 
which  were  planted  regularly  in  rows,  with 
straight  walks  here  and  there  under  them. 

"What  a  strange  garden!"  said  Jennie. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo.  "But  we  must  not  stop 
here.  We  must  go  straight  on  through  the 
trees  until  we  come  to  the  Grand  Alley." 

In  fact,  Rollo  could  see  the  Grand  Alley,  as 
he  thought,  at  some  distance  before  him,  with 
people  walking  up  and  down  in  it.  There 
were  several  people,  too,  in  the  same  walk 
with  Rollo  and  Jane,  some  going  with  them 
toward  the  Grand  Alley,  and  others  coming 
back  from  it.  Among  these  were  two  chil- 
dren, just  big  enough  to  go  alone,  who  were 
prattling  in  French  together  very  fluently  as 
they  walked  along  before  their  father  and 
mother.  Jennie  said  she  wondered  how  such 
little  children  could  learn  to  speak  French  so 
well.  Another  child,  somewhat  older  than 
these,  was  trundling  a  hoop,  and  at  length  un- 
fortunately she  fell  down  and  hurt  herself. 
So,  leaving  her  hoop  upon  the  ground,  she 
came  toward  the  maid  who  had  care  of  her, 
crying,  and  sobbing,  and  uttering  broken  ex- 
clamations, all  in  French,  which  seemed  to 
Rollo  and  Jane  very  surprising. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  77 

At  length  the  children  came  out  into  the 
Grand  Alley.  They  knew  it  immediately 
when  they  reached  it,  by  its  being  so  broad 
and  magnificent,  and  by  the  splendid  views 
which  were  presented  on  every  hand. 

" Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "this  is  it,  I  am  sure. 
There  is  the  obelisk ;  and  there,  beyond  it,  on 
the  top  of  that  long  hill,  is  the  Triumphal 
Arch ;  and  there,  the  other  way,  is  the  palace 
of  the  Tuileries.  Here  is  a  seat,  Jennie. 
Let's  go  and  sit  down." 

So  saying,  Rollo  led  Jennie  to  a  stone  seat 
which  was  placed  on  one  side  of  the  alley,  at 
the  margin  of  the  grove ;  and  there  they  sat  for 
sometime,  greatly  admiring  the  splendid  pano- 
rama which  was  spread  out  before  them.  What 
happened  to  them  for  the  remainder  of  their 
walk  will  be  described  in  the  next  chapter. 


7&  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    ELYSIAN    FIELDS. 


After  sitting  a  little  time  upon  the  stone 
bench,  Rollo  and  Jennie  rose  and  resumed 
their  walk.  The  alley  was  extremely  broad, 
and  it  was  almost  filled  with  parties  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  and  with  groups  of  children, 
who  were  walking  to  and  fro,  some  going  out 
toward  the  Triumphal  Arch,  and  some  return- 
ing. Rollo  and  Jennie,  as  they  walked  along, 
said  very  little  to  each  other,  their  attention 
being  almost  wholly  absorbed  by  the  gay  and 
gorgeous  scene  which  surrounded  them.  At 
length  they  perceived  that,  at  a  little  distance 
before  them,  the  people  were  separating 
to  the  right  hand  and  to  the  left,  and  going 
round  in  a  sort  of  circuit ;  and,  on  coming  to 
the  place,  they  found  that  the  great  basin,  or 
pond  of  water,  which  Mr.  Holiday  had  de- 
scribed to  them,  was  there.  This  pond  was 
very  large,  much  larger  than  Rollo  had  ex- 
pected from  his  father's  account  of  it.  It  was 
octagonal  in  form,  and  was  bordered  all 
around  with  stone.  There  were  a  number  of 
children  standing  in  groups  on  the  brink,  at 
different  places;  some  were  watching  the  mo- 
tions of  the  gold  fish  that  were  swimming  in 
the  water,  and  others  were  looking  at  a  little 


R6LL0  IK  PARIS.  7§ 

ship  which  a  boy  was  sailing  on  the  pond. 
The  boy  had  a  long  thread  tied  to  the  bow  of 
his  ship,  and  when  the  wind  had  blown  it  out 
upon  the  pond  to  the  length  of  the  string,  he 
would  pull  it  back  to  the  shore  again,  and  then 
proceed  to  sent  it  forth  on  another  voyage. 

Rollo  thought  it  strange  that  they  should  be 
thus  employed  on  the  Sabbath;  for  he  had 
been  brought  up  to  believe,  that,  although  it 
was  very  right  and  proper  to  take  a  quiet 
walk  in  a  garden  or  in  the  fields  toward  the 
close  of  the  day,  it  was  not  right,  but  would, 
on  the  other  hand,  be  displeasing  to  God,  for 
any  one,  old  or  young,  to  spend  any  part  of 
the  day  which  God  had  consecrated  to  his  own 
service  and  to  the  spiritual  improvement  of 
the  soul  in  ordinary  sports  and  amusements. 
Jennie,  too,  had  the  same  feeling;  and  accord- 
ingly, after  standing  with  Rollo  for  a  moment 
near  the  margin  of  the  water,  looking  at  the 
fishes  and  the  vessels,  and  at  the  group  of 
children  that  were  there,  she  began  to  pull 
Rollo  by  the  hand,  saying, — 

44  Come,  Rollo,  I  think  we  had  better  go 
along. ' ' 

Rollo  at  once  acceded  to  this  proposal,  and 
they  both  walked  on.  They  soon  found  them- 
selves passing  out  of  the  garden,  though  the 
space  on  each  side  of  the  broad  alley  in  which 
they  were  walking  was  bordered  with  so  many 
walls,  palisades,  terraces,  statues,  and  columns, 
and  the  gateway  which  led  out  from  the  gar- 
den into  the  square  was  so  broad,  and  was  so 
filled  up,  moreover,  with  the  people  who  were 


80  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

going  and  coming,  that  it  was  difficult  to  tell 
where  the  garden  ended  and  the  great  square 
began.  At  length,  however,  it  began  to  be 
plain  that  they  were  out  of  the  garden;  for 
the  view,  instead  of  being  shut  in  by  trees, 
became  very  widely  extended  on  either  hand. 
It  was  terminated  on  one  side  by  ranges  of 
magnificent  buildings,  and  on  the  other  by 
bridges  leading  across  the  river,  with  various 
grand  and  imposing  edifices  beyond.  In  the 
center  of  the  square  the  tall  form  of  the 
obelisk  towered  high  into  the  air,  gently  taper- 
ing as  it  ascended,  and  terminating  suddenly 
at  its  apex  in  a  point. 

The  square,  though  open,  was  not  empty. 
Besides  the  obelisk,  which  stood  in  the  center 
of  it,  on  its  lofty  pedestal,  there  were  twc 
great  fountains  and  colossal  statues  of  marble; 
and  lofty  columns  of  bronze  and  gilt,  for  the 
gas-lights ;  and  raised  sidewalks,  smooth  as  a 
floor,  formed  of  a  sort  of  artificial  stone,  which 
was  continuous  over  the  whole  surface,  which 
was  covered  by  it,  without  fissure  or  seam. 
There  were  roadways,  also,  crossing  the  place 
in  various  directions,  with  carriages  and  horse- 
men upon  them  continually  coming  and  going. 
The  great  fountains  were  very  curiously  con- 
trived. The  constructions  were  thirty  or  forty 
feet  high.  They  consisted  of  three  great 
basins,  one  above  the  other.  The  smallest 
was  at  the  top,  and  was,  of  course,  high  in  the 
air.  A  column  of  water  was  spouting  out  from 
the  middle  of  it,  and,  after  rising  a  little  way 
into  the  air,  the  water  fell  back  into  the  basin, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  81 

and,  filling  it  full,  it  run  over  the  edge  of  it 
into  the  basin  below. 

This  was  the  middle  basin,  and,  besides  the 
water  which  fell  into  it  from  the  basin  above, 
it  received  also  a  great  supply  from  streams 
that  came  from  the  great  basin  below,  like  the 
jets  from  the  hose  of  a  fire  engine  when  a 
house  is  on  fire.  There  was  a  row  of  bronze 
figures,  shaped  like  men,  in  the  water  of  the 
lowest  basin  of  all,  each  holding  a  fish  in  his 
arms;  and  the  jets  of  water  which  were  thrown 
up  to  the  middle  basin  from  the  lower  one 
came  out  of  the  mouths  of  these  fishes.  The 
fishes  were  very  large,  and  they  were  shaped 
precisely  like  real  fishes,  although  they  were 
made  of  bronze. 

The  children  looked  at  the  fountains  as  they 
walked  along,  and  at  length  came  to  the  foot 
of  the  obelisk.  They  stopped  a  minute  or  two 
there,  and  looked  up  to  the  top  of  it.  It  was 
as  tall  as  a  steeple.  Rollo  was  wondering 
whether  it  would  be  possible  in  any  way  to  get 
to  the  top  of  it ;  and  he  told  Jennie  that  he  did 
not  think  that  there  was  any  way,  for  he  did 
not  see  any  place  where  anybody  could  stand 
if  they  should  succeed  in  getting  there.  While 
they  both  stood  thus  gazing  upward,  they  sud- 
denly heard  a  well-known  voice  behind  them, 
saying,— 

"Well,  children,  what  do  you  think  of  the 
Obelisk  of  Luxor?" 

They  turned  round  and  beheld  their  uncle 
George.  They  were,  of  course,  very  much 
astonished  to  see  him.     He  was  walking  with 

6    Paris 


82  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

another  young  gentleman,  a  friend  of  his  from 
America,  whom  he  had  accidentally  met  with 
in  Paris.  When  the  children  had  recovered 
from  the  surprise  of  thus  unexpectedly  meet- 
ing him,  he  repeated  his  question. 

"What  do  you  think  of  the  obelisk?" 

4 ' I  don't  believe  it  is  so  high, ' '  replied  Rollo, 
"as  the  column  in  the  Place  Vendome. " 

"No,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "it  is  not." 

"Nor  so  large,"  added  Rollo. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George./ 

"And  I  don't  believe  that  there  is  any  way 
to  get  to  the  top  of  it, ' '  added  Rollo. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "there  is  not.  The 
column  in  the  Place  Vendome  is  hollow,  and 
has  a  staircase  inside ,  but  this  obelisk  is  solid 
from  top  to  bottom,  and  is  formed  of  one 
single  stone.     That  is  the  great  wonder  of  it. " 

"Look  up,"  said  Mr.  George,  "to  the  top 
of  it.  It  is  as  high  as  a  steeple.  See  how 
large  it  is,  too,  at  the  base.  Think  how  enor- 
mously heavy  such  an  immense  stone  must  be. 
What  a  work  it  must  have  been  to  lift  it  up 
and  stand  it  on  its  end!  Besides,  it  does  not 
rest  upon  the  ground,  but  upon  another  mons- 
trous stone,  the  pedestal  of  which  is  nearly 
thirty  feet  high ;  so  that,  in  setting  it  up  in  its 
place,  the  engineers  had  not  only  to  lift  it  up 
on  end,  but  they  had  to  raise  the  whole  mass 
bodily,  twenty  or  thirty  feet  into  the  air.  I 
suppose  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  lifts  that 
every  was  made. 

"There  is  another  thing  that  is  very  curious 
about  the  obelisk,"   continued  Mr.    George, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  83 

"and  that  is  its  history.  It  was  not  made 
originally  for  this  place.  It  was  made  in 
Egypt,  thousands  and  thousands  of  years  ago, 
nobody  knows  how  long.  There  are  several 
others  of  the  same  kind  still  standing.  Some 
years  ago,  this  one  and  another  were  given  to 
the  French  by  the  government  of  Egypt,  and 
the  French  king  sent  a  large  company  of  men 
to  take  this  one  down  and  bring  it  to  Paris. 
They  built  an  immense  vessel  on  purpose  for 
transporting  it.  This  vessel  they  sent  to 
Egypt.  It  went  up  the  Nile  as  near  to  the 
place  where  the  obelisk  stood  as  it  could  go. 
The  place  was  called  Luxor.  The  obelisk 
stood  back  at  some  distance  from  the  river; 
and  there  were  several  Arab  huts  near  it, 
which  it  was  necessary  to  pull  down.  There 
were  also  several  other  houses  in  the  way  by 
the  course  which  the  obelisk  must  take  in 
going  to  the  river.  The  French  engineers 
bought  all  these  houses,  and  pulled  them  down. 
Then  they  made  a  road  leading  from  the  place 
where  the  obelisk  stood  to  the  river.  Then 
they  cased  the  whole  stone  in  wood,  to  pre- 
vent its  getting  broken  or  injured  on  the  way. 
Then  they  lowered  it  down  by  means  of  im- 
mense machines  which  they  constructed  for 
the  purpose,  and  so  proceeded  to  draw  it  to  the 
river.  But  with  all  their  machines,  it  was  a 
prodigiously  difficult  work  to  get  it  along.  It 
took  eight  hundred  men  to  move  it,  and  so 
slowly  difl  it  go  that  these  eight  hundred  men 
worked  tnree  months  in  getting  it  to  the  land- 
ing.    There  they  made  a  great  platform,  and 


84  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

so  rolled  it  on  board  the  float.  There  was  a 
steamer  at  hand  to  take  it  in  tow,  and  it  was 
brought  to  France.  It  then  took  five  or  six 
months  to  bring  it  across  the  country  from  the 
sea  shore  to  Paris. 

"When,  at  last,  they  got  it  here,  it  took  them 
nearly  a  year  to  construct  the  machines  for 
raising  it.  They  built  the  pedestal  for  it  to 
stand  upon,  which  you  see  is  as  high  as  a  two- 
story  house,  and  then  appointed  a  day  for  the 
raising.  All  the  world,  almost,  came  to  see. 
This  whole  square  was  full.  There  were 
more  than  a  hundred  thousand  persons  here. 
The  king  came  and  his  family,  and  all  his  gen- 
erals and  great  officers.  It  was  the  greatest 
raising  that  ever  was  seen." 

"Why,  there  must  have  been  just  as  great  a 
raising,"  said  Rollo,  "when  they  first  put  it  up 
in  Egypt. " 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George;  "because  there  it 
stood  nearly  upon  the  ground,  but  here  it  is  on 
the  top  of  a  lofty  pedestal.  Look  there! 
Those  are  pictures  of  the  machines  which  they 
raised  it  by. ' ' 

So  saying,  Mr.  George  pointed  to  beautifully 
gilded  diagrams  which  were  sculptured  upon 
one  side  of  the  pedestal.  There  were  beams, 
and  ropes,  and  pulleys  without  number,  with 
the  obelisk  among  them ;  but  Rollo  could  not 
understand  the  operation  of  the  machinery 
very  well.  The  obelisk  itself  was  covered  on 
all  sides  with  ancient  Egyptian  hieroglyphics, 
deeply   cut  into   the   stone;  but  the   children 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  85 

could    not   understand  the  hieroglyphics   any 
better  than  they  could  the  machinery. 

After  looking  some  time  longer  at  the 
obelisk  and  the  various  objects  of  interest  that 
were  around  it,  the  whole  party  walked  on 
together.  Mr.  George  said  that  he  and  his 
friend  were  going  up  the  avenue  of  the  Elysian 
Fields,  and  that  if  Rollo  and  Jennie  would 
walk  along  behind  them,  they  would  not  get 
lost.  Jennie  was  very  glad  of  this;  for  the 
crowd  of  people  that  were  coming  and  going 
was  getting  to  be  very  great,  and  she  was  a 
little  afraid.  Rollo,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
rather  sorry.  The  Triumphal  Arch  at  the 
further  end  of  the  avenue  was  in  full  view,  and 
thus  he  felt  sure  of  his  way ;  and  he  was  am- 
bitious of  the  honor  of  being  the  sole  guide  in 
the  excursion  which  he  and  Jane  were  taking. 
He,  however,  could  not  well  decline  his  uncle's 
invitation,  so,  when  the  two  gentlemen  moved 
on,  Rollo  and  Jennie  followed  them. 
i*The  Grand  Avenue  was  a  very  broad  and 
beautiful  roadway,  gently  ascending  toward 
the  barrier,  and  now  perfectly  thronged 
with  carriages  and  horsemen.  There  were 
also  two  side  avenues,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
central  one.  These  were  for  foot  passengers. 
There  were  rows  of  trees  between.  Beyond 
the  side  avenues  there  extended  on  either 
hand  a  wood,  formed  of  large  and  tall  trees, 
planted  in  rows,  and  standing  close  enough 
together  to  shade  the  whole  ground.  They 
were,  however,  far  enough  apart  to  allow  of 
open  and  unobstructed  motion  among  them. 


86  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

Under  these  trees,  and  in  open  spaces  which 
were  left  here  and  there  among  them,  there 
were  booths,  and  stalls,  and  tables,  and  tents, 
and  all  sorts  of  contrivances  for  entertain- 
ment and  pleasure,  with  crowds  of  people 
gathered  around  them  in  groups,  or  moving 
slowly  from  one  to  the  other.  There  were 
men,  some  dressed  like  gentlemen,  and  others 
wearing  blue,  cartmen's  frocks;  and  women, 
some  with  bonnets  and  some  with  caps;  and 
children  of  all  ages  and  sizes;  and  soldiers 
without  number,  with  blue  coats,  and  dark  red 
trousers,  and  funny  caps,  without  any  brim, 
except  the  visor.  In  the  midst  of  all  these 
multitudes  Mr.  George  and  the  gentleman  who 
was  with  him  slowly  led  the  way  up  the  side 
avenue,  Rollo  and  Jennie  following  them, 
quite  bewildered  with  the  extraordinary  spec- 
tacles which  were  continually  presenting  them- 
selves to  view  on  every  hand.  The  attention 
of  the  children  was  drawn  from  one  object  or 
incident  to  another,  with  so  much  sudden- 
ness, and  so  rapidly,  that  they  had  no  time  to 
understand  one  thing  before  it  passed  away 
and  something  else  came  forward  into  view 
and  diverted  their  thoughts ;  and  before  they 
had  recovered  from  the  surprise  which  this 
second  thing  awakened,  they  had  come  to  a 
third,  more  strange  and  wonderful,  perhaps, 
than  either  of  the  preceding. 

A  boy,  very  young,  and  very  fantastically 
dressed,  came  riding  along  through  the  crowd, 
mounted  on  the  smallest  and  prettiest  black 
pony  that  Rollo  had  ever  seen,  and  distribut- 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  87 

ing  as  he  passed  along  some  sort  of  small 
printed  papers  to  all  who  came  near  enough 
to  get  them.  Rollo  tried  to  get  one  of  the 
papers  to  see  what  it  was  but  he  did  not 
succeed. 

"How  I  wish  I  had  such  a  pony  as  that!" 
said  Rollo. 

"So  do  I,"  said  Jennie.  "But  what  are  the 
people  doing  in  that  ring?" 

Rollo  saw  a  close  ring  of  people  all  crowding 
around  something  on  the  ground.  There  was 
a  man  inside  the  ring,  calling  out  something 
very  loud  and  very  incessantly.  Rollo  put 
his  head  between  two  of  the  spectators  to  see. 
There  was  a  man  seated  in  the  center,  on  the 
ground,  with  a  cloth  spread  out  before  him, 
on  which  was  a  monstrous  heap  of  stockings, 
of  all  kinds  and  colors,  which  he  was  selling 
as  fast  as  possible  to  the  men  and  women  that 
had  gathered  around  him.  He  sold  them  very 
cheap,  and  the  people  bought  them  very  fast. 
He  put  the  money,  as  fast  as  he  received  it, 
in  his  cap,  which  lay  on  the  ground  before  him, 
and  served  him  for  a  cash  box. 

"Come,  Rollo,"  said  Jane,  pulling  Rollo  by 
the  hand,  "we  must  go  along.  Uncle  George 
is  almost  out  of  sight. " 

Rollo  turned  back  into  the  avenue  again, 
and  began  to  walk  along.  In  a  moment  more 
he  saw  a  large  boy  standing  behind  a  curious- 
looking  stove  in  an  open  space  near,  and  bak- 
ing griddle  cakes.  There  was  a  very  nice 
table  by  his  side,  covered  with  a  white  cloth, 
and  a  plate,  on  which  the  boy  turned  out  the 


88  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

griddle  cakes  as  fast  as  they  were  baked. 
There  were  several  children  about  him,  buy- 
ing the  cakes  and  eating  them. 

"Ah,  Jennie,"  said  Rollo,  "look  at  these 
cakes!  How  I  should  like  some  of  them!  If 
it  were  not  that  it  is  Sunday,  I  would  go  and 
buy  some." 

"O  Rollo!"  exclaimed  Jennie,  "look  here! 
See  what's  coming!" 

Rollo  looked,  and  saw  that  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  on  the  broad  walk  before  them 
were  moving  to  one  side  and  the  other,  to 
make  room  for  a  most  elegant  little  omnibus, 
drawn  by  six  goats,  that  were  harnessed  before 
it  like  horses.  The  omnibus  was  made  pre- 
cisely like  a  large  omnibus,  such  as  are  used 
in  the  streets  of  Paris  for  grown  persons ;  only 
this  one  was  small,  just  large  enough  for  the 
goats  to  draw:  It  was  very  beautifully  painted, 
and  had  elegant  silken  curtains.  It  was  full 
of  children,  who  were  looking  out  the  win- 
dows with  very  smiling  faces,  as  if  they  were 
enjoying  their  ride  very  much.  A  very  pretty 
little  boy,  about  seven  years  of  age,  was  hold- 
ing the  reins  of  the  goats,  and  appearing  to 
drive;  but  there  was  a  large  boy  walking 
along  by  the  side  of  the  goats  all  the  time,  to 
take  care  that  they  did  not  go  wrong.  The 
omnibus  belonged  to  his  father,  who  kept  it 
to  let  children  ride  in  it  on  their  paying  him 
a  small  sum  for  each  ride. 

Jennie  was  very  much  pleased  with  the  om- 
nibus; but  what  followed  it  pleased  her  still 
more.       This    was   a    carriage,    made    in   all 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  £9 

respects  like  a  real  carriage,  and  large  enough 
to  contain  several  children.  It  was  open,  like 
a  barouche,  so  that  the  children  who  were 
riding  in  it  could  see  all  around  them  perfectly 
well.  It  had  two  seats  inside,  besides  a  high 
seat  in  front  for  the  coachman,  and  one  behind 
for  the  footman.  There  were  children  upon 
all  these  seats.  There  was  one  on  the  coach- 
man's box  to  drive.  The  carriage,  like  the 
omnibus,  was  drawn  by  goats,  only  there  were 
four  instead  of  six.  The  coachman  drove 
them  by  means  of  long,  silken  reins. 

As  soon  as  the  omnibus  and  the  carriage  had 
passed  by,  and  the  crowd  had  closed  again 
behind  them  so  as  to  conceal  them  from  view, 
Rollo  and  Jennie  looked  about  for  Mr.  George 
and  the  other  gentleman ;  but  they  were  no- 
where to  be  seen.  Jane  was  quite  frightened, 
but  Rollo  said  he  did  not  care. 

"Look  there,"  said  Rollo,  pointing  back, 

"What  is  it?"  said  Jennie. 

"The  obelisk,"  said  Rollo. 

Jane  saw  the  tall,  needle-like  form  of  the 
obelisk  towering  into  the  air  from  the  middle 
of  the  great  square  behind  them,  and  a  part 
of  the  long  front  of  the  Tuileries,  at  the  end 
of  a  vista  of  trees,  far  beyond. 

"As  long  as  we  have  the  obelisk  in  sight," 
said  Rollo,  "we  cannot  get  lost. " 

Just  then  Rollo's  attention  was  called  to  a 
broad  sheet  of  paper  fastened  up  upon  a  tree 
that  he  was  passing  by.  He  stopped  to  see 
what  it  was.  A, little  girl,  about  as  old  as 
Jennie,  came  up  at  the  same  time,  leading  the 


90  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

maid  who  had  the  care  of  her  by  the  hand.  This 
child  began  to  read  what  was  printed  on  the 
card.  She  read  aloud,  enunciating  the  words 
very  slowly,  syllable  by  syllable,  and  in  a  voice 
so  clear,  and  rich,  and  silvery,  that  it  was 
delightful  to  hear  her.  She  seemed  pleased  to 
observe  that  Rollo  and  Jane  were  listening  to 
her;  and  when  she  got  through  she  turned 
to  them,  as  if  to  apologize  for  not  reading 
better,  and  said,  in  French,  and  with  a  pleasant 
smile  upon  her  countenance, — 

"I  am  learning  to  read;  out  I  cannot  read 
too  much  yet,  you  see. ' ' 

By  too  much  she  meant  very  well,  that  being 
the  way  that  the  French  express  themselves 
in  such  a  case. 

Rollo  understood  what  she  said,  but  he  did 
not  think  it  prudent  to  attempt  to  reply  in  the 
same  language;  so  he  said  simply,  in  Eng- 
lish,— 

"And  yet  I  think  my  father  would  give  five 
hundred  dollars  if  I  could  read  French  like 
that.     He'd  be  glad  to  do  it. " 

As  Rollo  spoke  these  words  the  child  looked 
earnestly  in  his  face,  the  smile  gradually  dis- 
appearing from  her  features  and  being  re- 
placed by  a  look  of  perplexity  and  wonder. 
She  then  turned  and  led  the  maid  away. 

There  were  a  great  many  booths  and  stands 
about,  some  in  open  spaces  and  some  under 
the  trees.  At  one  they  had  all  sorts  of  cakes 
for  sale;  at  another  toys  of  every  kind,  such  as 
hoops,  balls,  kites,  balloons,  rocking  horses, 
and  all  such  things;  and  at  a  third  pictures, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  91 

some  large,  some  small,  some  plain,  and  some 
beautifully  colored.  At  one  place,  by  the  side 
of  the  avenue  where  most  of  the  people  were 
walking,  there  stood  a  man,  with  a  tall  and 
gayly-painted  can  on  his  back.  It  was  covered 
with  common  drapery  below;  but  the  top  was 
bright,  and  towered  like  a  spire  above  the 
man's  head.  There  was  a  round  bar,  like  the 
leg  of  a  chair,  which  went  from  the  bottom  of 
the  can  to  the  ground,  to  support  it,  and  take 
the  weight  off  the  man's  shoulders  when  he 
was  standing  still.  The  man  was  standing 
still  now,  and  was  all  the  time  tinkling  a  little 
bell,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  people  to  what 
he  had  to  sell.  It  was  something  to  drink. 
There  were  two  kinds  of  drink  in  the  can, 
separated  from  each  other  by  a  division  in  the 
interior.  There  were  two  small  pipes,  one 
for  each  kind  of  drink,  leading  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  can  round  by  the  side  of  the  man 
to  the  front,  with  stopcocks  at  the  end,  where 
he  could  draw  out  the  drink  conveniently. 
There  was  also  a  little  rack  to  hold  the  glasses. 
There  were  three  glasses;  for  the  man  some- 
times had  three  customers  at  a  time.  While 
Rollo  and  Jane  were  looking  at  this  man,  a 
boy  came  up  for  a  drink.  The  man  took  one 
of  the  glasses  from  the  little  rack,  and  filled 
it  by  turning  one  of  the  stopcocks.  When  the 
boy  had  taken  his  drink  and  paid  the  money, 
the  man  wiped  the  glass  with  a  towel  which 
he  kept  for  the  purpose ;  and  then,  putting  it 
back  in  its  place  on  the  rack,  he  went  on  tink- 
ling his  little  bell. 


92  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

In  the  meantime,  the  crowd  of  people 
seemed  to  increase,  and  it  appeared  to  Rollo 
and  Jennie,  when  they  came  to  observe  partic- 
ularly, that  they  were  nearly  all  walking  one 
way,  and  that  was  up  the  avenue,  as  if  there 
were  some  place  in  that  direction  where  they 
were  all  going.  Rollo  supposed  that,  of 
course,  it  was  a  church.  He  had  been  told  by 
his  father,  when  they  were  traveling  in  Eng- 
land, that  when  he  was  in  any  strange  place 
on  Sunday,  and  wished  to  find  the  way  to 
church,  one  good  method  was  to  observe  in 
the  streets  whenever  he  saw  any  considerable 
number  of  people  moving  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, and  to  join  and  follow  them.  He  would, 
in  such  cases,  his  father  said,  be  very  sure  to 
be  conducted  to  a  church,  and  after  going  in  he 
would  generally  find  some  one  who  would 
show  him  a  seat.  Rollo  and  Jennie  had  often 
practiced  on  this  plan.  In  fact,  they  took  a 
particular  interest  and  pleasure  in  going  to 
church  in  this  way,  as  there  was  something  a 
little  of  the  nature  of  adventure  in  it. 

When,  accordingly,  the  children  observed 
that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  that  filled  the 
two  side  avenues,  as  well  as  the  carriages  that 
were  in  the  central  one,  were  all  moving 
steadily  onward  together,  paying  little  atten- 
tion to  the  booths,  and  stalls,  and  other  places 
and  means  of  amusement  which  were  to  be 
seen  under  the  trees  on  either  hand,  he  con- 
cluded that,  while  some  of  the  people  of  Paris 
were  willing  to  amuse  themselves  with  sports 
and  exhibitions  on  Sunday,  the  more  respect- 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  93 

able  portion  would  not  stop  to  look  at  them, 
but  went  straight  forward  to  church ;  and  he 
and  Jennie  resolved  to  follow  their  example. 

"I  should  like  to  see  all  these  things  very- 
much,"  said  Rollo,  "some  other  day;  but  now 
we  will  go  on,  Jennie,  to  the  church,  where 
the  rest  of  the  people  are  going." 

Jennie  very  cordially  approved  of  this  plan, 
and  so  they  walked  on  together.  It  happened 
that,  at  the  time  when  they  came  to  this 
determination,  there  was  walking  just  before 
them  a  party,  consisting  apparently  of  a  father 
and  mother  and  their  two  children.  The 
father  and  mother  walked  together  first,  and 
the  two  children,  hand  in  hand,  followed.  The 
oldest  child  was  a  girl,  of  about  Jennie's  age. 
The  other  was  a  very  small  boy,  just  beginning 
to  learn  to  talk.  Rollo  and  Jennie  came  imme- 
diately behind  these  children,  and  were  very 
much  interested  in  hearing  them  talk  together, 
especially  to  hear  the  little  one  prattling  in 
French.  He  called  his  sister  Adrienne,  and 
she  called  him  Antoine.  Thus  Rollo  and 
Jennie  knew  the  names  of  the  children,  but 
they  had  no  way  of  finding  out  what  were  the 
names  of  the  father  and  mother. 

"Now,  Jennie,"  said  Rollo,  in  a  low  tone,  "I 
think  we  had  better  follow  this  party,  and 
keep  close  to  them  all  the  time,  and,  then, 
when  we  get  to  the  church,  perhaps  they  will 
give  us  a  seat." 

Jennie  liked  this  proposal  very  much,  and  so 
she  and  Rollo  walked  along  after  Adrienne 
and  Antoine,  not  too  near   them,  but  so  near 


94  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

as  to  keep  them  always  in  sight.  Sometimes 
the  party  turned  aside  from  the  avenue  to 
walk  under  the  trees,  and  sometimes  they 
stopped  a  few  minutes  to  look  at  some  curious 
exhibition  or  spectacle  which  was  to  be  seen. 
At  one  place  a  man  had  a  square  marked  off, 
and  enclosed  with  a  line  to  keep  the  crowd 
back ;  and  in  the  middle  he  had  an  electrical 
machine,  with  which  he  gave  shocks  to  any  of 
the  bystanders  who  were  willing  to  take  them. 

A  boy  kept  turning  the  machine  all  the  time. 
At  another  place  was  a  little  theater,  mounted 
on  a  high  box,  so  that  all  could  see,  with  little 
images  about  as  large  as  dolls  dancing  on  the 
stage,  or  holding  dialogues  with  each  other. 
The  words  were  really  spoken  by  a  man  who 
was  concealed  in  the  box  below;  but  as  the 
little  images  moved  about  continually,  and 
made  all  sorts  of  gesticulations,  corresponding 
with  what  was  said,  it  seemed  to  the  bystand- 
ers precisely  as  if  they  were  speaking  them- 
selves. Besides  this,  the  images  would  walk 
about,  scold  each  other,  quarrel  and  fight  each 
other,  run  out  at  little  doors,  and  then  come  in 
again,  and  do  a  great  many  other  things  which 
it  was  very  wonderful  to  see  such  little  fig- 
ures do. 

There  were  places,  too,  where  there  were 
great  whirling  machines,  under  splendid  tents 
and  canopies,  with  horses,  and  boats,  and  ships, 
and  cradles  at  the  circumference  of  them,  all 
of  which  were  made  to  sail  round  and  round 
through  the  air,  carrying  the  children  that 
were  mounted  on  the  horses  or  sitting  in  the 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  95 

ships  and  boats.  There  were  also  several 
places  for  shooting  at  a  mark  with  little  spring 
guns,  which  were  loaded  with  peas  instead  of 
bullets.  There  were  figures  of  bears,  lions, 
tigers,  ducks,  deer,  and  other  animals  at  a  little 
distance,  which  were  kept  moving  along  all  the 
time  by  machinery,  for  the  children  to  shoot 
at  with  the  peas.  If  they  hit  any  of  them  they 
drew  a  prize,  consisting  of  cake  or  gingerbread, 
or  of  some  sort  of  plaything  or  toy,  of  which 
great  numbers  were  hanging  up  about  the 
shooting  place.  All  these,  and  a  great  many 
other  similar  contrivances  for  amusing  peo- 
ple, Rollo  and  Jane  saw,  as  they  passed  along; 
but  they  did  not  stop  to  look  at  them,  except- 
ing when  the  gentleman  and  lady  stopped 
whom  they  were  following.  This  was  seldom, 
however;  and  so  they  went,  on  the  whole,  very 
steadily  forward,  up  the  long  and  gentle 
ascent,  until,  at  length,  they  reached  the  great 
Triumphal  Arch  at  the  Neuilly  Barrier. 


96  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A    GREAT     MISTAKE. 

As  they  approached  the  arch,  the  children 
gazed  upon  it  with  astonishment,  being  greatly 
impressed  with  its  magnitude  and  height. 
There  were  a  great  many  men  on  the  top  of  it. 
Their  heads  and  shoulders  were  visible  from 
below,  as  they  stood  leaning  over  the  parapet. 
They,  however,  looked  exceedingly  small. 

Rollo  and  Jennie  would  have  liked  to  stop 
and  look  longer  at  the  arch ;  but  they  did  not 
wish  to  separate  from  Adrienne  and  Antoine, 
who  kept  walking  steadily  on  all  the  time 
with  their  father  and  mother.  Rollo  sup- 
posed, as  has  been  said  before,  that  this  party 
were  going  to  some  church ;  but  they  were  not. 
They  were  going  to  a  place  called  the  Hippo- 
drome. 

The  Hippodrome,  far  from  being  a  church, 
is  a  place  of  amusement.  It  is  used  for  eques- 
trian performances,  and  feats  of  strength  and 
agility,  and  balloon  ascension,  and  all  similar 
entertainments. 

The  Hippodrome  is  a  long,  oval  enclosure, 
with  eight  or  ten  ranges  of  seats  extending  all 
around  it,  and  rising  one  above  another,  like 
the  seats  of  the  Coliseum  at  Rome.  There  is  a 
roof  extending  all  around  over  the  seats;  but 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  97 

the  area  within  is  so  large  that  it  could  not 
well  be  covered  with  a  roof.  Besides,  if  there 
were  a  roof  over  it,  how  could  the  balloons  go 
up? 

Then,  moreover,  the  spectacles  which  are  ex- 
hibited in  the  Hippodrome  appear  to  much 
better  advantage  when  seen  in  the  open  light 
of  day  than  if  they  were  under  the  cover  of  a 
roof,  so  long  as  the  spectators  themselves  are 
protected  from  the  sun  and  from  any  sudden 
showers. 

The  area  in  the  middle  of  the  Hippodrome 
is  about  one  hundred  yards  long  and  fifty  yards 
wide.  It  is  so  large  that  there  is  room  for  a 
good  wide  road  all  around  it,  and  also  for  an- 
other road  up  and  down  the  middle,  with  little 
gardens  of  grass  and  flowers  between.  At  the 
very  center  is  a  round  area,  where  there  is  a 
concealed  canal  of  water  to  represent  a  stream. 
This  water  is  ordinarily  covered  with  planks, 
and  the  planks  are  covered  with  a  very  thick 
canvas  carpet,  and  this  with  sand;  so  that  the 
water  is  entirely  concealed,  and  the  horsemen 
ride  over  it  just  as  they  do  over  any  other  part 
of  the  area.  When  they  wish  to  use  it,  to 
show  how  the  horses  could  leap  over  streams, 
they  take  off  the  sand,  roll  up  the  carpet,  and 
carry  away  the  planks ;  and  there  they  have  a 
very  good  representation  of  a  stream. 

The  performances  at  the  Hippodrome  are 
very  various.  Sometimes  whole  troops  of 
horse  come  in  from  between  two  great  curtains 
at  one  end,  all  elegantly  caparisoned  and 
mounted,  some  by  men  and  some  by  girls,  but 

7    Paris 


98  kOLLO  IN  PARIS. 

all,  whether  men  or  girls,  dressed  in  splendid 
uniforms.  These  troops  ride  round  and  round 
the  area,  and  up  and  down  in  the  middle  of  it, 
performing  a  great  variety  of  evolutions  in  the 
most  rapid  and  surprising  manner. 

Then  there  are  races  of  various  kinds.  Some 
are  run  by  beautiful  girls,  who  come  out 
mounted  on  elegant  gray  horses  that  are  mot- 
tled like  leopards,  each  of  the  riders  having  a 
scarf  over  her  shoulders  of  a  different  color 
from  the  rest,  so  that  they  may  be  all  readily 
distinguished  from    each    other    in    the  race. 

Then  there  are  races  of  chariots,  three  run- 
ning at  a  time,  round  and  round  the  area;  and 
of  small  ponies,  with  monkeys  on  them  for 
riders.  There  are  various  contrivances,  too, 
for  athletic  and  gymnastic  feats,  such  as  masts 
and  poles  for  climbers  to  ascend,  and  other 
similar  apparatus.  All  these  things  give  the 
interior  of  the  Hippodrome  quite  a  gay  and 
lively  appearance,  and  the  area  necessary  for 
them  is  so  large  that  the  ranges  of  seats  sur- 
rounding it  are  sufficient  to  accommodate  ten 
thousand  spectators. 

It  was  to  this  place  that  Adrienne  and  An- 
toine,  with  their  father  and  mother,  were 
going,  while  Rollo  and  Jennie  supposed  that 
the)'  were  going  to  a  church.  There  was  noth- 
ing to  lead  Rollo  to  suspect  his  mistake  in  the 
aspect  of  the  building  as  he  approached  the  en- 
trance to  it;  for  the  sides  of  it  were  hidden  by 
trees  and  other  buildings,  and  the  portal, 
though  very  large  and  very  gaily  decorated, 
seemed    still,    so    far    as  Rollo  could  get   a 


RoLlo  IN  PARIS.  §§ 

glimpse  of  it  through  the  crowds  of  people, 
only  to  denote  that  it  was  the  entrance  to  some 
very  splendid  public  edifice,  without  at  all  in- 
dicating the  nature  of  the  purposes  to  which  it 
was  devoted. 

The  immense  concourse  of  people  which 
were  pouring  into  the  Hippodrome  divided 
themselves  at  the  gates  into  two  portions,  and 
passed  up  an  ascent  to  enter  at  side  doors. 
Rollo  and  Jane,  following  their  guides,  went 
toward  the  right.  They  observed  that  the 
father  of  Adrienne  and  Antoine  stopped  at  a 
little  window  near  the  entrance,  to  pay  the 
price  of  admission  for  himself  and  wife  and  his 
two  children  and  to  get  the  tickets.  He  paid 
full  price  for  his  two  children,  and  so  took  four 
full  tickets.  Rollo  and  Jane  did  not  see  him 
pay  the  money.  They  only  observed  that 
there  was  a  crowd  at  the  little  window,  and 
they  saw  Antoine 's  father  take  the  tickets. 
They  did  not  know  what  this  meant,  how- 
ever; but  they  followed  on.  When  they  all 
came  to  the  doorway  which  led  up  to  the 
ranges  of  seats,  the  man  whose  duty  it  was  to 
take  the  tickets  supposed  that  the  four  chil- 
dren all  belonged  to  the  same  family,  and  that 
they  had  been  admitted  at  half  price,  and  that, 
accordingly,  two  of  the  tickets  were  for  the 
father  and  mother,  and  the  other  two  for  the 
four  children.  So  he  let  them  all  pass  on  to- 
gether, especially  as  there  was,  at  that  time, 
such  a  throng  of  people  crowding  in  that  there 
was  no  time  to  stop  and  make  any  inquiries. 

Rollo  and  Jane  were  carried  along  by  the 


100  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

current  up  a  flight  of  stairs,  which  came  out 
among  the  ranges  of  seats;  and  after  moving 
along  for  some  distance  till  they  came  to 
a  vacancy  they  sat  down,  and  began  to  look 
around  and  survey  the  spacious  and  splendid 
interior  into  which  they  had  entered.  They 
were  at  once  overwhelmed  with  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  spectacle  which  was  presented  to 
view.  Instead  of  a  church,  they  found  a  vast 
open  area  extended  before  them,  surrounded 
with  long  ranges  of  seats,  and  laid  out  in  the 
interior  in  the  most  graceful  and  beautiful 
manner. 

44 Jennie, "  said  Rollo,  after  gazing  about  for 
some  moments  almost  bewildered,  "if  this  is 
any  kind  of  meeting  at  all,  I  think  it  must  be  a 
camp  meeting." 

Jennie  was  completely  bewildered,  and  had 
no  opinion  on  the  subject  whatever;  so  she  said 
nothing. 

''That's  the  place  for  the  choir,  I  suppose," 
said  Rollo,  pointing  to  a  sort  of  raised  platform 
with  a  balustrade  in  front,  which  was  built 
among  the  seats  in  the  middle  of  one  of  the 
sides  of  the  Hippodrome.  "But,  then,"  he 
added,  after  a  moment's  pause,  "I  don't  see 
any  pulpit,  unless  thr.t  is  it." 

As  he  said  this,  Rollo  pointed  to  a  balcony 
with  a  rich  canopy  over  it,  which  was  built  up 
among  the  sc:.ts,  directly  opposite  to  the  musi- 
cian's g^lery,  on  the  other  side  of  the  arena. 
This  balcony  was  for  the  use  of  the  emperor, 
and  his  family  and  friends,  when  they  chose  to 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  101 

come  and  witness  the  spectacles  in  the  Hippo- 
drome. 

These  speculations  of  Rollo's  were  suddenly 
interrupted  by  the  striking  up  of  martial 
music,  by  a  full  band  of  trumpets,  drums,  clari- 
nets, hautboys,  and  horns,  from  the  musi- 
cian's gallery.  Soon  afterward  the  curtains 
opened  at  the  farther  end  of  the  arena,  and  a 
magnificent  troop  of  horse,  mounted  by  male 
and  female  riders,  all  dressed  in  the  gayest 
and  most  splendid  costumes,  came  prancing  in. 
As  soon  as  Rollo  had  recovered  from  his  aston- 
ishment at  this  spectacle,  he  turned  to  Jennie, 
and  said : 

"Jennie,  it  is  not  any  church  or  meeting  at 
all,  and  I  think  we  had  better  go  home." 

"I  think  so,  too,"  said  Jennie. 

"I  should  like  to  come  here  some  other  day," 
added  Rollo,  "and  I  mean  to  ask  my  father  to 
let  us  come.  Uncle  George  will  come  with  us. 
But  now  we  had  better  go  home. " 

So  the  children  rose  from  their  seats  and  be- 
gan to  move  toward  the  door.  It  was  some 
time  before  they  could  get  out,  so  great  was 
the  number  of  people  still  coming  in.  They, 
however,  finally  succeeded,  and  were  quite  re- 
lieved when  they  found  themselves  once  more 
in  the  open  air. 

They  turned  their  steps  immediately  toward 
home.  Jane,  however,  soon  began  to  feel  very 
tired ;  and  so  Rollo  said  he  would  stop  the  first 
omnibus  that  came  along.  The  avenue  was 
full  of  carriages  of  every  kind ;  and  pretty  soon 
an  omnibus,    headed   down    the    obelisk,   ap- 


102  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

peared  among  them.  Rollo  made  a  signal  for 
the  conductor  to  stop,  and  he  and  Jennie  got 
in. 

They  had  a  very  pleasant  ride  back  through 
the  Elysian  Fields,  and  around  the  great 
square  where  the  obelisk  stands.  They  then 
entered  the  street  which  runs  along  by  the  side 
of  the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries,  and  advanced 
in  it  toward  the  heart  of  the  city.  Rollo  made 
a  sign  for  the  conductor  to  stop  when  the  om- 
nibus reached  that  part  of  the  street  which  was 
opposite  to  the  entrance  into  the  garden  where 
he  and  Jennie  had  gone  in.  This  was,  of 
course,  also  opposite  to  the  street  leading  into 
the  Place  Vendome.  It  was  but  a  short  walk 
from  this  place  to  the  hotel.  About  six  o'clock 
the  children  arrived  at  the  hotel,  and  the  table 
was  already  set  for  dinner.  Mr.  Holiday  was 
reclining  on  a  couch  in  the  room,  and  Mrs. 
Holiday  had  been  reading  to  him.  Rollo's 
uncle  George  was  also  in  the  room.  Mrs. 
Holiday  laid  down  her  book  when  the  children 
came  in.  Rollo  and  Jennie  sat  down  upon  a 
sofa,  not  far  from  their  father's  couch.  They 
were  glad  to  rest. 

4 'Well,  children,"  said  Mrs.  Holiday,  "have 
you  had  a  pleasant  walk?" 

44 Yes, "  said  Rollo,  4'a  very  pleasant  walk, 
indeed.  We  have  seen  a  great  many  very  curi- 
ous things.  But  I  believe  we  made  a  mis- 
take." 

44 What  mistake?"  asked  Mrs.  Holiday. 

44 Why,  we  followed  a  great  many  people 
that  we  thought  were  going  to  church ;  but,  in- 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  103 

stead  of  that,  they  led  us  into  a  great  place 
that  I  think  was  some  sort  of  circus." 

Here  Mr.  George  looked  up  very  eagerly 
and  began  to  laugh. 

"I  declare!'  said  he.  "I  shouldn't  wonder 
if  you  got  into  the  Hippodrome." 

"I  don't  know  what  it  was,"  said  Rollo. 
44  When  we  first  went  in  we  saw  that  it  was  not 
a  church;  but  we  did  not  know  but  that  it 
might  be  s^m  sort  of  camp  meeting.  But 
pretty  soon  chey  began  to  bring  horses  in  and 
ride  them  around,  and  so  we  came  out." 

Here  Mr.  George  fell  into  a  long  and  uncon- 
trollable paroxysm  of  laughter,  during  the  in- 
tervals of  which  he  said,  in  broken  language, 
as  he  walked  about  the  room  endeavoring  to 
get  breath  and  recover  his  self-control,  that  it 
was  the  best  thing  h<  had  heard  since  he 
landed  at  Liverpool.  The  idea  of  following 
the  crowd  of  Parisians  in  the  Champs  Elysees 
on  Sunday  afternoon,  with  the  expectation  of 
being  condu  .te  to  church,  and  then  finally 
taking  the  Hippodrome  for  a  camp  meeting! 
Rollo  himself,  though  somewhat  piqued  at 
having  his  adventure  put  in  so  ridiculous  a 
light,  could  not  help  laughing,  too ;  and  even 
his  father  and  mother  smiled. 

"Never  mind,  Rollo,"  said  his  mother,  at 
length.  "I  don't  think  you  were  at  all  to 
blame;  though  I  am  glad  that  you  came  out 
when  you  found  ■   hat  sort  of  a  place  it  was." 

"O,  no,"  said  Mr.  George,  as  he  gradually 
recovered  his  self-control,  "you  were  not  to 
blame  in  the  least.     The  rule  you  followed  is  a 


104  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

very  good  one  for  England  and  America ;  but 
it  does  not  apply  to  France.  Going  with  the 
multitude  Sunday  afternoons,  in  Paris,  will 
take  you  anywhere  but  to  church." 

Notwithstanding  the  concurrence  of  opinion 
between  Rollo's  mother  and  his  uncle  that  he 
had  done  nothing  wrong,  neither  he  nor  Jen- 
nie could  help  feeling  some  degree  of  uneasi- 
ness and  some  little  dissatisfaction  with  them- 
selves in  respect  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
had  spent  the  afternoon.  They  had  both  been 
accustomed  to  consider  the  Sabbath  as  a  day 
solemnly  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  God 
and  to  the  work  of  preparation  for  heaven.  It 
is  true  that  the  day  sometimes  seemed  very 
long  to  them,  as  it  does  to  all  children ;  and 
though  they  had  always  been  allowed  to  take 
quiet  walks  in  the  gardens  and  grounds  around 
the  house,  still  they  usually  got  tired,  before 
night  came,  of  being  so  quiet  and  still.  Not- 
withstanding this,  however,  they  had  no  dispo- 
sition to  break  over  the  rule  which,  as  they  sup- 
posed, the  law  of  God  enjoined  upon  them. 
They  fully  believed  that  God  himself  had  or- 
dained that  there  should  be  one  day  in  seven 
from  which  all  the  usual  occupations  and 
amusements  of  life  should  be  excluded,  and 
which  should  be  consecrated  wholly  to  rest,  to 
religious  contemplation,  and  to  prayer;  and 
they  were  very  willing  to  submit  to  the  ordin- 
ance, though  it  brought  with  it  upon  them,  as 
children,  burdens  and  restrictions  which  it  was 
sometimes  quite  onerous  for  them  to  bear. 

When    night    came,    Rollo    found  that    he 


ROLi.0  IN  PARIS.  105 

always  felt  much  happier  if  he  had  kept  the 
Sabbath  strictly,  than  when  he  attempted, 
either  secretly  or  openly,  to  evade  the  duty. 
There  was  a  sort  of  freshness  and  vigor,  too, 
with  which  he  engaged  in  the  employments  of 
the  week  on  Monday  morning,  which,  though 
he  had  never  stopped  to  account  for  it  philo- 
sophically, he  enjoyed  very  highly,  and  which 
made  Monday  morning  the  brightest  and  most 
animated  morning  of  the  week.  So  Rollo  was 
accustomed  to  acquiesce  very  willingly  in  the 
setting  apart  of  the  sacred  day  to  religious  ob- 
servances and  to  rest,  thinking  that  the  re- 
straints and  restrictions  which  it  imposed  were 
amply  compensated  for  by  the  peace  and  com- 
fort which  it  brought  to  his  mind  when  he  ob- 
served it  aright,  and  by  the  novelty  and  fresh- 
ness of  the  charm  with  which  it  invested  the 
ordinary  pursuits  and  enjoyments  of  life  when 
it  was  over. 

Accordingly,  on  this  occasion,  feeling  a  little 
dissatisfied  with  himself  and  uneasy  in  mind, 
in  consequence  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
spent  the  afternoon,  Rollo  determined  to  make 
all  the  atonement  for  his  fault,  if  fault  it  was, 
that  was  now  in  his  power.  Accordingly, 
when  the  family  rose  from  the  table  after  din- 
ner, which  was  about  seven  o'clock,  and  his 
father  and  mother  went  and  sat  upon  the  sofa 
together,  which  stood  in  the  recess  of  a  window 
looking  out  upon  the  Place  Vendome,  Rollo 
said  to  Jane,  in  an  undertone: 

"Jennie,  come  with  me." 

He  said  this  in  the  tone  of  an  invitation,  not 


106  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

of  command;  and  Jennie  understood  at  once, 
from  her  experience  on  former  occasions,  that 
Rollo  had  some  plan  for  her  entertainment  or 
gratification.  So  she  got  down  from  her  chair 
and  went  off  with  him  very  readily. 

They  went  out  at  a  door  which  led  into  their 
mother's  bed  room.  "Jennie,"  said  Rollo,  as 
he  walked  along  with  her  across  the  room,  *'I 
am  going  to  get  the  Bible  and  sit  down  here  by 
the  window  and  read  in  it.  Would  not  you 
like  to  read  with  me?" 

"Yes,"  said  Jennie,  "if  you  will  find  a  pretty 
story  to  read  about.  There  are  a  great  many 
toward  the  first  part  of  the  Bible. " 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "I  will." 

"And  let  us  go  into  my  room  to  read,"  said 
Jennie.     "I  like  my  room  the  best. " 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  "I  like  your  room  best, 
too." 

So  Rollo  took  the  Bible  off  from  the  table  of 
his  father's  room,  and  then  he  and  Jennie  went 
on  together  into  Jennie's  room.  This  room 
was  a  little  boudoir,  which  opened  from  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Holiday's  room;  it  was  a  charming 
little  place,  and  it  was  no  wonder  that  Jennie 
liked  it.  It  was  hung  with  drapery  all 
around,  except  where  the  window  was,  on  one 
side,  and  a  large  looking-glass  and  a  picture 
on  two  other  sides.  There  was  even  a  curtain 
over  the  door,  so  that  when  you  were  in,  and 
the  door  was  shut,  and  the  curtain  over  it  was 
let  down,  you  seemed  to  be  entirely  secluded 
from  all  the  world.  This  drapery  was  green, 
and  the  room,  being  entirely  enclosed  in  it, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  107 

might  have  seemed  sombre  had  it  not  been 
for  the  brilliancy  and  beauty  of  the  furniture, 
and  the  variegated  colors  and  high  polish  of 
the  floor.  There  was  an  elegant  bedstead  and 
bed  in  the  back  part  of  the  room,  with  a 
carved  canopy  over  it.  There  was  a  bureau 
also,  with  drawers,  where  Jennie  kept  her 
clothes;  and  a  little  fireplace,  with  a  pretty 
brass  fender  before  it;  and  a  marble  mantel- 
piece above,  with  a  clock  and  two  vases  of  flow- 
ers upon  it.  There  were  a  great  many  other 
curious  and  beautiful  articles  of  furniture  in 
the  room,  which  gave  it  a  very  attractive 
appearance,  and  made  it,  in  fact,  as  pretty  a 
place  of  seclusion  as  a  lady  could  desire  to 
have.  Jennie  enjoyed  this  room  very  much, 
indeed;  but  still,  after  all,  notwithstanding  the 
expensiveness  and  beauty  of  the  decorations 
which  adorned  it,  I  do  not  know  that  Jennie 
enjoyed  it  any  more  than  she  did  a  little  seat 
that  she  had  under  some  lilac  bushes,  near  the 
brook  at  the  bottom  of  her  father's  garden,  at 
home. 

There  was  a  small  couch  in  the  recess  of  the 
window  in  Jennie's  boudoir;  and  here  she  and 
Rollo  established  themselves,  with  the  Bible 
lying  open  before  them  upon  a  small  table 
which  they  had  placed  before  the  couch  to  hold 
it.  They  raised  their  own  seats  by  means  of 
large,  square  cushions  which  were  there,  so 
as  to  bring  themselves  to  the  right  height  for 
reading  from  the  book  while  it  lay  upon  the 
table ;  and  they  put  their  feet  upon  a  taqouret 
which  belonged   to  the  room.      The  tabouret 


108  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

was  made  for  a  seat,  but  it  answered  an  admir- 
able purpose  for  a  footstool.  As  soon  as  the 
two  children  were  thus  comfortably  established 
they  opened  the  Bible,  and  Rollo  began  to 
turn  over  the  leaves  in  the  books  of  Samuel 
and  of  Kings,  in  order  to  find  something  which 
he  thought  would  interest  Jennie. 

At  length  he  found  a  chapter  which  seemed, 
so  far  as  he  could  judge  by  running  his  eye 
along  the  verses,  to  consist  principally  of  nar- 
ration and  dialogue,  and  so  he  determined  to 
begin  the  reading  at  once. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "Jennie,  I  will  read  one 
verse  and  then  you  shall  read  one,  and  I  will 
tell  you  the  meaning  of  all  the  words  that  you 
don't  know." 

Jennie  was  much  pleased  with  this  arrange- 
ment, and  she  read  the  verses  which  came  to 
her  with  great  propriety.  It  is  true  that  there 
were  a  great  many  words  at  which  she  was 
obliged  to  hesitate  some  little  time  before  she 
could  pronounce  them,  and  there  were  others 
which  she  could  not  pronounce  at  all.  Rollo 
had  the  tact  to  wait  just  long  enough  in  these 
cases.  By  telling  children  too  quick,  when 
they  are  endeavoring  to  spell  out  a  word,  we 
deprive  them  of  the  pleasure  of  surmounting 
the  difficulty  themselves;  and,  by  waiting  too 
long,  we  perplex  and  discourage  them.  There 
are  very  few  children  who,  when  they  are 
hearing  their  younger  brothers  and  sisters 
read,  have  the  proper  discretion  on  this  point. 
In  fact,  a  great  many  full-grown  teachers  fail 
in  this  respect  most  seriously,   and  make  the 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  109 

business  of  reading  on  the  part  of  their  pupils 
a  constant  source  of  disappointment  and  vexa- 
tion to  them,  when  it  might  have  been  a 
pleasure. 

Rollo,  too,  besides  the  patient  and  kind  en- 
couragement which  he  afforded  to  Jane  in  her 
attempts  to  read  her  verses  herself,  read  those 
which  fell  to  his  share  in  a  very  distinct  and 
deliberate  manner,  keeping  the  place  all  the 
while  with  his  finger,  so  that  Jennie  might 
easily  follow  him.  He  stopped  also  from  time 
to  time  to  explain  the  story  to  Jennie,  and  to 
talk  about  the  several  incidents  that  were  de- 
scribed in  it,  in  order  to  make  it  sure  that 
Jennie  understood  them  all.  It  would  have 
been  much  easier  for  him  to  have  taken  the 
book  himself,  and  to  have  read  the  whole 
chapter  off  at  once,  fluently.  But  this  would 
have  defeated  his  whole  object;  which  was, 
not  to  do  what  he  could  do  most  easily,  but  to 
do  good  and  help  Jennie.  If  a  boy  were  going 
up  a  high  hill,  with  his  sister  in  his  company  it 
would  be  easier  for  him  to  go  directly  on  and 
leave  his  sister  behind.  A  selfish  boy  would 
be  likely  to  do  this;  but  a  generous-minded 
boy  would  prefer  to  go  slowly,  and  help  his 
sister  along  over  the  rocks  and  up  the  steep 
places. 

Rollo  and  Jane  both  became  so  much  inter- 
ested in  their  reading  that  they  continued  it 
almost  an  hour.  It  then  beg^n  to  be  dark, 
and  so  they  put  the  book  away.  Their  mother 
came  in  about  that  time,  and  was  very  much 
pleased  when  she  found  how  Rollo  and  Jane 


iio  RoLlo  In  paris. 

had  been  employed;  and  Rollo  and  Jennie 
themselves  experienced  a  substantial  and  deep- 
seated  feeling  of  satisfaction  and  comfort  that 
all  the  merry-making  of  the  Elysian  Fields 
could  never  give.  If  any  of  the  readers  of 
this  book  have  any  doubt  of  this,  let  them  try 
the  experiment  themselves.  At  some  time, 
after  they  have  been  spending  a  portion  of 
the  Sabbath  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  them  an 
inward  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  self-condem- 
nation, let  them  engage  for  a  time  in  the 
voluntary  performance  of  some  serious  duty, 
as  Rollo  did,  and  in  the  spirit  and  temper 
which  he  manifested,  and  see  how  strongly  it 
will  tend  to  bring  back  their  peace  of  mind  and 
restore  them  to  happiness.  To  try  the  experi- 
ment more  effectually  still,  spend  the  whole 
Sabbath  in  this  manner,  and  then  see  with 
what  a  feeling  of  quiet  and  peaceful  satisfac- 
tion you  will  go  to  bed  at  night,  and  with 
what  a  joyous  and  buoyant  spirit  you  will 
awake  on  Monday  morning. 

Before  Rollo  left  Paris,  he  went,  one  Tues- 
day afternoon,  with  his  mother  and  Jennie  and 
his  uncle  George,  to  see  the  performances  at 
the  Hippodrome,  and  he  enjoyed  the  spectacle 
very  much  indeed.  Besides  the  performances 
which  have  already  been  described,  there  were 
two  others  which  astonished  him  exceedingly. 
In  one  of  these  a  man  came  into  the  middle  of 
the  area,  and  there  the  assistants  lifted  up  a 
large  and  heavy  pole,  which  they  poised  in  the 
air,  and  then  set  the  lower  end  of  it  in  a  sort 


ROLLO  IN  PARtS.  lii 

of  socket  which  was  made  in  an  apron  which 
the  man  wore,  which  socket  was  fastened 
securely  to  the  man's  hips  and  shoulders  by 
strong-  straps,  so  that  he  could  sustain  the 
weight  of  the  pole  by  means  of  them.  The 
pole  was  about  thirty  feet  high,  and  the  top 
was  branched  like  a  pitchfork.  It  was 
shaped,  in  fact,  exactly  like  a  pitchfork,  except 
that  there  was  a  bar  across  from  the  top  of 
one  branch  to  the  top  of  the  other,  and  a  rope 
hanging  down  from  the  middle  of  the  bar  half 
way  down  to  the  place  of  bifurcation — that  is, 
to  the  place  where  the  straight  part  of  the 
pole  ended  and  the  branches  began.  Things 
being  thus  arranged,  a  boy,  who  was  about 
twelve  years  old,  apparently,  came  out,  and, 
leaping  up  upon  the  man's  shoulders,  began  to 
climb  up  the  pole.  When  he  reached  the  top 
of  it  he  took  hold  of  the  rope,  and  by  means 
of  the  rope  climbed  up  to  the  bar.  Here  he 
began  to  perform  a  great  variety  of  the  most 
astonishing  evolutions,  the  man  all  the  time 
poising  the  pole  in  the  air.  The  boy  would 
climb  about  the  bar  in  every  way,  drawing 
himself  up  sometimes  backward  and  some- 
times forward,  and  swinging  to  and  fro,  and 
turning  over  and  over  in  every  conceivable 
position.  He  would  hang  to  the  bar  some- 
times by  his  hands  and  sometimes  by  his  legs 
— sometimes  with  his  head  downward,  some- 
times with  his  feet  downward.  He  would  whirl 
round  and  round  over  the  bar  a  great  many 
times,  till  Rollo  and  Jane  were  tired  of  seeing 
him,  and  then  he  would  rest  by  hanging  to  the 


112  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

pole  by  the  back  of  his  head,  without  touching 
the  bar  with  any  other  part  of  his  body.  All 
this  time  the  man  who  held  the  pole  kept  it 
carefully  poised,  moving  to  and  fro  about  the 
area  continually  in  following  the  oscillations. 
The  other  performance  was  in  some  respects 
more  extraordinary  still.  There  was  a  mast 
set  up  in  the  ground,  thirty  or  forty  feet  high. 
At  the  ground,  ten  feet  from  the  foot  of  the 
mast,  there  commenced  an  inclined  plane, 
formed  of  a  plank  about  a  foot  or  eighteen 
inches  wide,  which  ascended  in  a  spiral  direc- 
tion round  and  round  the  mast  till  it  reached 
the  top.  A  man  ascended  this  plane  by  means 
of  a  large  ball,  about  two  feet  in  diameter, 
which  he  rolled  up  standing  upon  it,  and  roll- 
ing it  by  stepping  continually  on  the  ascending 
side.  There  was  no  ledge  or  guard  whatever 
to  keep  the  ball  from  rolling  off  the  plane — 
nothing  but  a  narrow  plank  ascending  con- 
tinually, and  winding  in  a  spiral  manner 
around  the  mast.  This  experiment  it  was 
quite  frightful  to  see.  Several  of  the  children 
who  were  sitting  near  Mr.  George's  party 
began  to  cry,  saying,  "O,  he  will  fall — he  will 
fall!"  In  fact,  Jennie  could  not  bear  to  look 
at  him,  and  so  she  shut  her  eyes;  and  even 
Mrs.  Holiday  looked  another  way.  But  Rollo 
watched  it  through,  and  saw  the  man  go  on  up 
to  the  very  top  of  the  mast,  and  stand  there  on 
his  ball  on  the  top,  forty  feet  above  the  ground, 
with  his  hands  extended  in  triumph.  After 
remaining  there  a  short  time,  he  came  down 
as  he  had  gone  up;  and  when  he  reached  the 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  113 

ground,  he  rolled  his  ball  along,  keeping  on  it 
all  the  time,  till  he  came  to  a  chariot  which 
was  waiting  to  receive  him.  He  stepped  from 
the  ball  off  to  the  chariot,  and  was  then  driven 
all  around  the  ring,  being  received  every- 
where, as  he  passed,  with  the  acclamations  of 
the  spectators. 


8    Paris 


114  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CARLOS. 

One  morning,  just  after  breakfast,  when 
Rollo  and  Jennie  were  sitting  at  the  window  of 
their  hotel,  looking  at  a  band  of  about  forty 
drummers  that  were  arranging  themselves  on 
the  Asphaltum,  in  the  Place  Vendome,  in 
front  of  the  column,  preparatory  to  an  exer- 
cise of  practice  on  their  instrument,  Mr. 
George  came  into  the  room.  Mr.  George  took 
up  a  newspaper  which  was  lying  upon  the 
table,  and,  seating  himself  in  a  large  arm  chair 
which  was  near,  he  read  from  it  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  then,  laying  down  the  paper, 
said, — 

14  Rollo.  how  do  you  pronounce  L-o-u-v-o-i-s?" 

Mr.  George  did  not  speak  the  word,  but 
spelled  it  letter  by  letter. 

11 1  don't  know,"  said  Rollo. 

"Because,"  said  Mr.  George,  "that  is  the 
name  of  the  hotel  where  I  have  gone." 

"What  made  you  go  away  from  this  hotel, 
uncle  George?"  asked  Jennie.  "Didn't  you 
like  it?" 

"Yes,"  replied  Mr.  George,  "I  liked  it  very 
much.  But  I  wanted  to  change  the  scene.  I 
had  become  very  familiar  with  everything  in 
this  part  of  the  city,   and  with  the   modes  of 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  115 

life  in  this  hotel.  So  I  thought  I  would 
change,  and  go  to  some  other  quarter  of  the 
city,  where  I  could  see  Paris,  and  Paris  life,  in 
new  aspects." 

"I  wish  I  had  gone  with  you,"  said  Rollo. 
"I  wonder  if  my  father  would  not  let  me  go 
now.  Is  there  a  room  for  me  at  your  hotel?" 
he  added,  looking  up  eagerly. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Mr.  George.  "You 
can  ask  when  you  go  there.  But  to-day  I  am 
going  to  see  the  Garden  of  Plants;  and  you 
may  go  with  me,  if  you  like." 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  " I  should  like  to  go  very- 
much." 

"And  may  I  go,  too?"  said  Jennie. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "if  your  mother  is 
willing." 

"Well,"  said  Jennie,  joyfully.  "I'll  go  and 
ask  her.  Only  I  wish  it  was  a  garden  of  flowers 
instead  of  a  garden  of  plants." 

So  Jennie  went  to  ask  her  mother  if  she 
might  go  with  her  uncle  George.  She  soon 
returned  with  her  shawl  and  bonnet  on,  and 
then,  Mr.  George  leading  the  way,  they  all 
went  together  downstairs,  and  got  into  a  car- 
riage which  was  waiting  for  them  at  the  door. 
The  carriage  was  an  open  one,  with  the  top 
turned  back,  so  that  they  all  had  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity to  see  the  streets  and  the  persons  pass- 
ing as  they  rode  along. 

Mr.  George  directed  the  coachman  to  drive 
first  to  his  hotel ;  and  the  carriage,  leaving  the 
Place  Vendome  on  the  northern  side,  entered 
into  a  perfect  maze  of  narrow  streets,  through 


116  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

which  it  advanced  toward  the  heart  of  the 
city. 

After  a  time,  they  came  to  a  long,  straight 
street,  which  led  across  the  city,  through  the 
center  of  it,  from  the  river  to  the  Boulevards; 
and  when  they  were  about  in  the  middle  of 
this  street,  the  attention  of  the  children  was 
attracted  by  a  very  long  and  gloomy-look- 
ing building,  which  formed  one  side  of 
the  street  for  a  considerable  distance  before 
them.  It  had  no  windows  toward  the  street, 
but  only  a  range  of  square  recesses  in  the 
walls,  of  the  form  of  windows,  but  without  any 
glass.  Jennie  asked  Mr.  George  if  it  was  the 
prison. 

"Not  exactly,"  said  Mr.  George;  "and  yet 
there  is  one  room  in  it  where  there  are  more 
than  a  hundred  men,  and  they  are  not  per- 
mitted to  speak  a  loud  word." 

"Let's  go  and  see  them,"  said  Rollo. 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.   George;   "we  will." 

So  saying,  he  called  upon  the  coachman  to 
stop  opposite  to  a  great  archway  which  opened 
through  the  building  near  the  middle  of  it. 
Mr.  George  and  the  children  descended  from 
the  carriage  and  went  in  under  the  archway. 
Looking  through,  they  saw  a  large  court  yard, 
with  grass,  and  trees,  and  a  fountain.  They 
did  not,  however,  go  on  into  this  court  yard, 
but  turned  to  the  right  to  a  very  broad  flight 
of  steps  which  seemed  to  lead  into  the  build- 
ing. There  was  a  man  in  uniform,  with  a 
cocked  hat  upon  his  head,  who  stood  in  the  pas- 
sage way  to  guard  the  entrance.     He  made  no 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  117 

objection,  however,  to  the  party's  going  in; 
and  so  they  all  went  on  up  the  stairway. 

After  passing  through  a  series  of  magnificent 
passages  and  vestibules,  with  very  broad  stair- 
cases, and  massive  stone  balustrades,  and  other 
marks  of  a  very  ancient  and  venerable  style  of 
architecture,  Mr.  George  led  the  way  through 
an  open  door,  where  the  children  saw  ex- 
tended before  them,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  a  long  range  of  rooms,  opening  into  one 
another,  and  all  filled  with  bookshelves  and 
books.  The  rooms,  had  windows  only  on  one 
side ;  that  is,  on  the  side  next  the  court  yard ; 
and  the  doors  which  led  from  one  room  to  the 
other  were  all  near  that  side  of  the  room. 
Thus  three  sides  of  each  room  were  almost 
wholly  unbroken,  and  they  were  all  filled  with 
bookshelves  and  books.  The  doors  which  led 
from  one  room  to  another  were  all  in  a  range ; 
so  that  standing  at  one  end,  opposite  to  one  of 
these  doors,  the  spectator  could  look  through 
the  whole  range  of  rooms  to  the  other  end. 
The  distance  was,  moreover,  so  great,  that, 
though  there  was  a  group  of  several  persons 
standing  at  the  farther  end  of  the  range  of 
rooms  at  the  time  that  Rollo  entered,  they 
looked  so  small  and  so  indistinct  that  Rollo 
could  not  count  them  to  tell  how  many  there 
were. 

"It  is  a  library,"  said  Rollo. 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "it  is  the  National 
Library  of  Paris,  one  of  the  largest  libraries 
in  the  world.  The  books  have  been  accumu- 
lating here  for  ages." 


118  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

"  I  don't  see  what  can  be  the  use  of  such  a 
large  library,"  said  Rollo;  "nobody  can  pos- 
sibly read  all  the  books." 

"No,"  said  Mr.  George,  "they  cannot  read 
them  all;  but  they  may  wish  to  consult  them. 
There  are  often  particular  reasons  for  seeing 
some  particular  book,  which  was  published  so 
long  ago  that  it  is  not  now  to  be  found  in  com- 
mon bookstores;  in  such  cases,  people  come 
here,  and  they  are  pretty  sure  to  find  the  book 
in  this  collection." 

There  were  several  parties  of  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen to  be  seen,  at  different  distances,  walk- 
ing along  the  range  of  rooms,  all  of  whom 
seemed  to  be  visitors.  Mr.  George,  himself, 
walked  on.  and  the  children  followed  him. 
They  passed  from  one  apartment  to  another, 
amazed  at  the  number  of  books.  They  were 
all  neatly  arranged  on  bookshelves,  which 
extended  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling,  and 
were  protected  by  a  wire  netting  in  front ;  so 
that,  although  the  visitors  could  see  the  books, 
they  could  not  take  them  down. 

Mr.  George  and  the  children  walked  on, 
until,  at  length,  they  came  to  the  end  of  the 
range  of  rooms,  and  there  they  found  another 
range,  running  at  right  angles  to  the  first, 
back  from  the  street.  They  turned  and  walked 
along  through  these  rooms,  too.  The  floors 
of  all  the  rooms  were  very  smooth  and  glossy, 
being  formed  of  narrow  boards,  of  dark- 
colored  wood,  curiously  inlaid,  and  highly  pol- 
ished. Rollo  told  Jennie  that  he  believed  he 
could  slide  on  such  floors  as  well  as  he  could 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  119 

on  ice,  if  he  thought  they  would  let  him  try. 
He  knew  very  well,  however,  that  it  would  not 
be  proper  to  try.  Besides,  he  observed  that 
there  were  standing  at  different  distances  along 
the  range  of  rooms  certain  men,  in  uniform, 
who  seemed  to  be  officers  stationed  in  the 
library  to  guard  against  anything  like  irregu- 
larity or  disorder  on  the  part  of  the  visitors. 
/Resides  the  books,  there  were  a  great  many 
other  things  to  interest  visitors  in  the  rooms 
of  the  library,  such  as  models  of  buildings, 
statues,  collections  of  coins,  medals,  and 
precious  gems,  and  other  similar  curiosities. 
These  things  were  arranged  on  tables  and  in 
cases  made  expressly  for  them,  and  placed  in 
the  various  rooms.  The  tables  and  cases  oc- 
cupy, generally,  the  central  parts  of  the  rooms 
that  they  were  placed  in,  so  as  not  to  interfere 
with  the  use  of  the  sides  of  the  rooms  for 
books.  In  one  place  was  a  collection  of  some 
of  the  oldest  books  that  ever  were  printed, 
showing  the  style  of  typography  that  prevailed 
when  the  art  of  printing  was  first  discovered. 
Mr.  George  took  great  interest  in  looking  at 
these.  Rollo  and  Jennie,  however,  did  not 
think  much  of  them ;  and  so,  while  their  uncle 
was  examining  these  ancient  specimens,  they 
went  to  the  windows  and  looked  out  into  the 
court  yard.  This  court  formed  a  green  and 
beautiful  garden,  shaded  with  trees  and 
adorned  with  fountains  and  walks.  The  vis- 
itors could  see  that  the  buildings  of  the  library 
extended  in  long  ranges  all  around  it. 

At  length,  at  the  end  of  the  second  range  of 


120  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

rooms,  the  party  came  to  a  third  range,  which 
was  parallel  to  the  first,  and  which  extended 
along  the  back  side  of  the  court  yard.  The 
children  could  not  go  into  these  apartments, 
for  the  entrance  to  them  was  closed  by  a  glass 
partition.  They  could,  however,  look  through 
the  partition  and  see  what  there  was  within. 
They  beheld  a  very  long  hall,  which  was 
several  hundred  feet  in  length,  apparently,  and 
quite  wide,  and  it  was  lined  on  both  sides  with 
bookshelves  and  books.  Long  tables  were 
extended  up  and  down  this  hall,  with  a 
great  number  of  gentlemen  sitting  at  them, 
all  engaged  in  silent  study.  Some  were 
reading;  some  were  writing;  some  were 
looking  at  books  of  maps  or  engravings. 
There  were  desks  at  various  places  up  and 
down  the  room,  with  officers  belonging  to 
the  library  sitting  at  them,  and  several  messen- 
gers, dressed  in  uniform,  going  to  and  fro 
bringing  books.  Mr.  George  explained  to  the 
children  that  there  was  another  entrance  to 
this  room,  leading  from  the  court  yard  by  a 
separate  staircase,  and  that  any  person  who 
wished  to  read  or  study  might  go  in  there  and 
sit  at  those  tables,  only  he  must  be  still,  and 
not  disturb  the  studies  of  the  rest.  If  he 
wished  for  any  book,  he  could  not  go  and  get  it 
from  the  shelves,  but  must  write  the  title  of  it 
in  full  on  a  slip  of  paper,  and  carry  it  to  one 
of  the  desks.  The  officer  would  take  the  slip 
and  give  it  to  one  of  the  messengers,  who 
would  then  go  and  get  the  book. 

After  looking  through  the  glass  partition  at 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  121 

this  great  company  of  readers  and  students 
until  their  curiosity  was  satisfied,  the  children 
turned  away,  and  Mr.  George  conducted  them 
back  through  the  long  ranges  of  rooms  by  the 
same  way  that  they  came.  When,  at  length, 
they  got  back  to  the  staircase  where  they  had 
come  up,  Mr.  George,  instead  of  going  out 
where  he  had  come  in,  descended  by  another 
way,  through  new  corridors  and  passages,  until 
he  came  to  a  room  where  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  people  were  sitting  at  tables,  looking  at 
books  of  engravings.  The  sides  of  this  room, 
and  of  several  others  opening  into  it,  were 
filled  with  bound  volumes  of  prints  and  engrav- 
ings, some  plain  and  some  colored,  but  very 
beautiful.  Many  of  the  volumes  were  very 
large;  but  however  large  they  might  be,  it  was 
very  easy  to  turn  over  the  leaves  and  see  the 
pictures,  for  the  tables,  or  rather,  desks,  in  the 
middle  of  the  room,  were  so  contrived  that  a 
book,  placed  upon  them,  was  held  at  precisely 
the  right  slope  to  be  seen  to  advantage  by 
persons  sitting  before  it.  Mr.  George  told  the 
children,  in  a  whisper,  that  any  one  might  ask 
for  any  book  there  was  there,  and  the  attend- 
ants would  place  it  on  one  of  the  tables  for 
him,  where  he  might  sit  and  look  at  the  prints 
in  it  as  long  as  he  pleased. 

"Some  day,"  continued  Mr.  George,  "we 
will  come  here  and  look  over  some  of  these 
books ;  but  to-day  we  must  go  to  the  Garden 
of  Plants." 

Mr.  George  then  led  the  children  back  to  the 


122  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

carriage  and  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive  to 
his  hotel. 

The  hotel  was  situated  on  the  side  of  an  open 
square,  which,  though  by  no  means  so  grand 
and  magnificent  as  the  Place  Vendome,  was 
still  a  very  pleasant  place. 

There  was  a  fountain  in  the  center,  with  a 
large  basin  of  water  around  it.  Outside  of 
this  basin  the  square  was  paved  with  asphal- 
tum,  and  was  as  hard  and  smooth  as  a  floor. 
The  pavement  was  shaded  with  trees,  which 
were  planted  at  equal  distances  all  over  it; 
and  under  the  trees  there  were  seats,  where 
various  persons  were  sitting.  There  were 
many  children,  too,  playing  about  under  the 
trees,  some  trundling  hoop,  some  jumping 
rope,  and  some  playing  horses. 

The  carriage  stopped  at  the  door  of  the  hotel, 
and  Mr.  George  took  the  children  up  to  his 
room.  It  was  a  front  room,  and  it  looked  out 
upon  the  square.  The  children  went  to  the 
window,  and,  while  Mr.  George  was  getting 
ready  to  go,  they  amused  themselves  by  look- 
ing at  the  children  that  were  playing  on  the 
square. 

Among  the  other  children,  there  was  a  boy, 
apparently  about  eight  years  of  age,  who  was 
sitting  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  children,  on 
a  bench  by  himself.  His  complexion  was  dark, 
and  his  hair  very  black  and  glossy.  He  was 
very  neatly  and  prettily  dressed,  though  in  a 
very  peculiar  style,  his  costume  being  quite 
different  from  anything  that   Rollo  had  ever 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  123 

before  seen.  He  had  a  ball  in  his  hand,  which 
now  and  then  he  tossed  into  the  air. 

"He  has  not  anybody  to  play  with, "  said 
Rollo  to  Jennie.  "I  have  a  great  mind  to  go 
down  and  play  with  him  while  uncle  George  is 
getting  ready. " 

"Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George;  "you  can  go. 
I  shall  not  be  ready  for  nearly  half  an  hour. 
We  do  not  wish  to  get  to  the  Garden  of  Plants 
before  twelve  o'clock." 

Rollo  hesitated  a  little  about  going  down, 
and  while  he  was  hesitating  the  boy  rose  from 
his  seat  and  came  toward  the  hotel.  He 
entered  under  the  archway,  and  presently 
Rollo  heard  him  coming  up  the  staircase.  He 
then  determined  to  hesitate  no  longer;  so  he 
went  out  into  the  passage  way  to  see  him. 

The  boy  had  reached  the  top  of  the  staircase 
when  Rollo  went  out,  and  was  just  then  com- 
ing along  the  hall.  He  looked  at  Rollo  with  a 
smile  as  he  came  toward  him,  and  this  encour- 
aged Rollo  to  speak  to  him. 

"Can't  you  find  any  one  to  play  with  you?" 
said  Rollo. 

The  boy  shook  his  head,  but  did  not  speak. 

He  meat  by  this  that  he  did  not  understand 
what  Rollo  said;  but  Rollo  thought  he  meant 
that  he  could  not  find  any  one  to  play  with 
him. 

"I  will  play  with  you,"  said  Rollo;  and  as  he 
spoke  he  held  out  his  hands,  with  the  wrists 
together  and  the  palms  open  between  them,  in 
a  manner  customary  with  boys  for  catching  a 
ball. 


124  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

The  boy  understood  the  sign,  though  he  did 
not  understand  the  words.  He  tossed  the  ball 
to  Rollo,  and  Rollo  caught  it.  Rollo  then 
tossed  it  back  again.  Presently  Rollo  made 
signs  to  the  boy  to  sit  down  upon  the  floor  at 
one  end  of  the  hall,  while  he  sat  down  at  the 
other,  explaining  his  wishes  also  at  the  same 
time  in  words.  The  boy  talked  too,  in  reply 
to  Rollo,  accompanying  what  he  said  with 
signs  and  gestures.  They  got  along  thus 
together  in  their  play  very  well,  each  one 
imagining  that  he  helped  to  convey  his  mean- 
ing to  the  other  by  what  he  said,  while,  in  fact, 
neither  understood  a  word  that  was  spoken  by 
the  other,  and  so  took  notice  of  nothing  but 
the  signs. 

Rollo  listened  attentively  once  or  twice  to 
short  replies  that  his  new  friend  made  to  him, 
in  order  to  see  if  he  could  not  distinguish  some 
words  in  it  that  he  could  understand ;  but  he 
could  not;  and  he  finally  concluded  that  it 
must  be  some  other  language  than  French  that 
the  boy  was  speaking.  He  was  sorry  for  this; 
for  he  could  understand  short  sentences  in 
French  pretty  well,  and  could  speak  short 
sentences  himself  in  reply.  When,  however, 
he  tried  to  speak  to  the  boy  in  French,  he 
observed  that  he  did  not  appear  to  understand 
him  any  better  than  when  he  spoke  in  English. 
This  confirmed  him  in  the  opinion  that  the 
boy  must  belong  to  some  other  nation. 

After  playing  together  for  some  time  with 
the  ball,  the  two  boys  began  to  feel  quite 
acquainted  with  each   other.      Rollo   wished 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS,  125 

very  much  to  find  out  his  new  companion's 
name;  so  he  asked  him,  in  English, — 

"What  is  your  name?" 

The  boy  smiled,  and  throwing  the  ball  across 
again  to  Rollo  as  he  spoke,  said  something  in 
reply ;  but  it  was  a  great  deal  too  much  to  be 
his  name.  What  he  said  was,  when  inter- 
preted into  English,  "My  father  bought  this 
ball  for  me,  and  gave   two  francs  for  it.  " 

Then  Rollo  thought  he  would  try  French;  so 
he  translated  his  question,  and  asked  it  in 
French. 

"And  I  am  going  to  carry  it  with  me  to 
Switzerland  and  Italy,"  said  the  boy,  speaking 
still  in  an  unknown  tongue. 

"That  can't  be  your  name,  either,"  said 
Rollo,  ' '  I  am  very  sure. ' ' 

Then,  after  a  moment's  pause,  he  added,  in 
an  eager  voice  and  manner,  as  if  a  new  idea 
had  suddenly  struck  him, — 

"We  are  going  to  the  Garden  of  Plants — 
uncle  George,  and  Jennie,  and  I;  wouldn't  you 
like  to  go,  too?" 

The  boy  smiled,  and  held  out  hands  for  Rollo 
to  roll  the  ball  to  him,  saying  something  at 
the  same  time  which  to  Rollo  seemed  totally 
unmeaning. 

"He  does  not  understand  me,  I  suppose;  but 
I  know  how  I  can  explain  it  to  him." 

So  he  rose  from  the  floor,  and,  by  means  of 
a  great  deal  of  earnest  gesticulation,  he  in- 
duced the  boy  to  get  up  too,  and  follow  him. 
Rollo   led   the  way   to   his   uncle's  chamber. 


126  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

The  boy  seemed  pleased,  though  a  little  timid, 
in  going  in. 

"Uncle  George,"  said  Rollo  "here  is  a  boy 
that  cannot  talk.  Are  you  willing  that  I 
should  invite  him  to  go  with  us  to  the  Garden 
of  Plants?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George;  "though  I  don't 
see  how  you  are  going  to  do  it." 
X  Rollo  led  the  boy  to  the  window,  and 
pointed  to  the  carriage,  which  stood  down  be- 
fore the  door  below.  Then  he  opened  a  map 
of  Paris  which  lay  upon  the  table,  and  found 
the  Garden  of  Plants  laid  down  upon  it,  and 
showed  it  to  the  boy.  Then  he  pointed  to  his 
uncle  George,  to  Jennie,  and  to  himself,  and 
then  to  the  carriage.  Then  he  made  a  motion 
with  his  hand  to  denote  going.  By  these  ges- 
ticulations he  conveyed  the  idea  quite  dis- 
tinctly to  his  new  acquaintance  that  they  were 
all  going  to  the  Garden  of  Plants.  He  then 
finally  pointed  to  the  boy  himself,  and  also  to 
the  carriage,  and  looked  at  him  with  an  inquir- 
ing look,  which  he  meant  as  an  invitation  to 
the  boy  to  accompany  them.  The  boy  paid 
close  attention  to  all  these  signs,  and  when 
Rollo  had  finished,  instead  of  either  nodding 
or  shaking  his  head,  in  token  of  his  accepting 
or  declining  the  invitation,  as  Rollo  expected 
he  would  have  done,  he  took  up  the  map,  and, 
making  certain  mysterious  gestures,  which 
Rollo  could  not  comprehend,  he  walked  off 
rapidly  out  of  the  room. 

Rollo  looked  at  his  uncle  George  with  an  ex- 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  127 

pression  of  great  astonishment  on  his  counten- 
ance. 

"What  does  that  mean?"  said  he. 

"Perhaps  he  has  gone  to  ask  his  father  or  his 
mother,  "suggested  Mr.  George. 

"He  has,"  exclaimed  Rollo,  "he  has;  that's 
it,  Im  sure." 

So  Rollo  went  out  immediately  into  the  hall 
to  wait  till  the  boy  came  back. 

In  a  few  minutes  a  door  opened,  which  led 
into  a  suite  of  apartments  in  the  rear  of  the 
hotel,  and  the  boy,  with  the  map  in  his  hand, 
came  into  the  hall,  nodding  his  head,  and  look 
ing  very  much  pleased ;  talking  all  the  time, 
moreover,  in  a  very  voluble  but  perfectly  unin- 
telligible manner.  A  moment  after  he  came 
the  door  opened  again,  and  a  very  respectable 
dressed  man,  of  middle  age,  came  into  the  hall. 
The  boy  pointed  to  Rollo,  and  said  something 
to  this  man. 

"Are  you  going  to  the  Garden  of  Plants," 
said  the  man  to  Rollo,  speaking  in  English, 
though  with  a  very  decidedly  foreign  accent. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"And  did  you  invite  Carlos  to  go  with  you?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo;  "only  I  did  not  know 
that  his  name  was  Carlos.  He  told  me  some- 
thing very  different  from  that.  What  lan- 
guage is  it  that  he  talks?     Is  it  French?" 

"No,"  replied  the  man,  "it  is  Spanish.  He 
is  a  Spanish  boy.  He  cannot  understand  a 
word  of  French  or  English.  But  he  may  go 
with  you  to  the  Garden  of  Plants  " 

"Are  you  his  father,  sir?"  asked  Rollo. 


128  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

"No,"  replied  the  man,  "I  am  his  father's 
courier." 

So  saying,  the  man  passed  on,  leaving  Rollo 
and  Carlos  together. 

"Come,  Carlos,"  said  Rollo,  "let  us  go  into 
uncle  George's  room,  and  see  if  he  is  not  ready 
to  go." 

Rollo  beckoned  as  he  spoke,  and  Carlos,  un- 
derstanding his  action,  though  not  his  words, 
immediately  followed  him.  In  fact,  during  all 
his  subsequent  intercourse  with  Carlos,  Rollo 
continued  to  talk  with  him  just  as  u  he  could 
understand,  and  Carlos  talked  also  in  r^ply. 

It  is  true,  that,  if  Rollo  had  been  asked 
whether  he  supposed  that  Carlos  understood 
what  he  said,  he  would  have  answered  no;  and 
yet  he  continually  forgot  to  act  upon  this  be- 
lief, but  talked  on,  under  the  influence  of  a 
sort  of  instinctive  feeling  that  good  plain  Eng- 
lish, such  as  he  took  care  to  speak,  could  not 
fail  to  convey  ideas  to  any  boy  that  heard  it. 
Under  the  influence  of  a  similar  feeling,  Carlos 
talked  Spanish  to  Rollo,  each  imagining  that 
the  other  understood  him,  at  least  in  some  de- 
gree, while,  in  fact,  neith  r  understood  any- 
thing but  the  signs  and  vestures  which  accom- 
panied the  language. 

Just  as  they  were  about  to  set  out,  one  of 
Mr.  George's  friends  called  to  see  him;  and 
when  he  found  that  the  party  were  going  to 
the  Garden  of  Plants,  he  wished  to  go,  too. 
There  was  scarcely  room  for  so  many  in  the 
carriage,  and  so  Rollo  proposed  that  he  and 
Carlos  should  go  in  an  omnibus. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  129 

"There  is  an  omnibus,'*  said  he,  "that  goes 
there  through  the  Boulevards,  close  by  here, 
and  Carlos  and  I  will  go  in  that  and  then  we 
can  find  you  in  the  garden." 

44 Very  well,"  said  Mr.  George. 

"Come,  Carlos,  come  with  me,"  said  Rollo, 
"we  are  going  to  find  an  omnibus." 

Carlos  perceived  that  Rollo  was  proposing 
that  they  should  go  somewhere  together,  but 
he  did  not  know  where,  or  for  what ;  nor  did  he 
care.  He  was  ready  to  assent  to  anything. 
So  he  and  Rollo,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  party 
in  the  act  of  getting  into  the  carriage,  walked 
along  up  the  street  which  led  to  the  Boulevards, 


9    Paris 


130  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    GARDEN    OF    PLANTS. 

Rollo  and  Carlos  had  not  gone  far  before 
they  came  to  a  place  where  two  children  had 
set  up  what  they  called  a  chapel,  under  the 
archway  which  led  to  the  interior  of  the  house 
where  they  lived.  A  real  chapel,  in  Catholic 
countries,  is  any  consecrated  place,  large  or 
small,  containing  an  altar  and  crucifix 
and  other  sacred  emblems,  where  masses 
are  said  and  other  religious  services  are 
performed.  Real  chapels  are  made  in  the 
alcoves  of  churches,  in  monuments  over 
tombs,  and  in  other  similar  places,  and  chil- 
dren have  toy  chapels  to  play  with.  There 
are  little  crucifixes,  and  candlesticks,  and 
communion  cups,  and  other  similar  things  for 
sale  at  the  toy  shops.  Sometimes  the  children 
buy  these  things  and  arrange  them  on  a  small 
table,  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  for  play,  just  as 
in  Protestant  countries  they  arrange  a  pulpit 
and  chairs  for  a  congregation,  and  so  make  be- 
lieve having  a  meeting.  Sometimes  the  chil- 
dren bring  out  their  chapel  and  set  it  near  the 
sidewalk,  by  the  street,  and  then  hold  out  a 
little  plate  to  ask  the  passers-by  for  contribu- 
tions. There  are  almost  always  some  people 
more  good-natured  than  wise,  who  will  give 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  131 

them  a  sou  or  two ;  and  thus  they  often  made 
up  quite  a  little  purse  of  money. 

In  this  case,  as  Rollo  and  Carlos  were  pass- 
ing along,  the  little  girl,  who  was  very  nicely 
dressed  in  holiday  costume,  held  out  a  small 
plate,  saying: 

•'One  sou,  gentlemen,  if  you  please,  for  the 
little  chapel." 

Rollo  and  Carlos  stopped  to  look  at  the 
chapel. 

44 What  pretty  little  candles!"  said  Rollo, 
talking  half  to  himself  and  half  to  Carlos,  "and 
how  tall !  I  wish  I  had  some  of  them  for  Jen- 
nie." 

44 1  have  got  a  chapel  at  home,"  said   Carlos. 

"She  wants  us  to  give  her  a  sou,"  continued 
Rollo.     " Would  you?" 

44  And  I  will  show  it  to  you  if  you  ever  come 
to  Barcelona,"  said  Carlos. 

44 1  don't  know  whether  to  give  her  a  sou  or 
not,"  said  Rollo.     "Would  you,  Carlos?" 

44 My  candlesticks  are  of  real  silver,"  said 
Carlos,  "but  these  are  not." 

Rollo  finally  concluded  to  give  the  girl  a 
sou,  thinking  that  he  was  in  some  measure 
bound  to  do  it,  after  having  stopped  so  long  to 
look  at  her  chapel;  and  then  he  and  Carlos 
walked  on  as  before.  As  they  went  on,  they 
continued  to  talk  together,  from  time  to  time, 
Rollo  in  English  and  Carlos  in  Spanish, 
neither  of  them,  however,  paying  any  atten- 
tion to  what  the  other  said.  This  was  a  very 
good  plan,  for  there  was  a  sense  of  companion- 
ship in  this  sort  of  conversation,  though  it  com- 


132  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

municatedno  ideas.  They  took  the  same  kind 
of  pleasure  in  it,  probably,  that  birds  do  in 
the  singing  of  their  mates.  In  fact,  it  often 
happens,  when  a  group  of  children  are  talking 
together  in  a  language  which  they  all  under- 
stand, that  each  one  talks  for  the  pleasure  of 
talking,  and  none  of  them  pay  any  attention  to 
what  the  others  say. 

Presently  the  two  boys  reached  the  Boule- 
vard. It  was  a  very  broad  and  magnificent 
street,  and  the  sidewalks  were  very  wide. 
The  sidewalks,  wide  as  they  were,  were 
thronged  with  foot  passengers,  and  the  street 
itself  was  full  of  carriages.  Very  soon  an 
omnibus  came  along;  but  it  was  full.  There 
are  a  great  many  curious  contrivances  about  a 
French  omnibus;  one  of  which  is  that  there  is 
a  sign,  with  the  word  complete,  in  French, 
painted  upon  it  in  large  letters.  The  sign  is 
placed  directly  over  the  door  of  the  omnibus 
behind,  and  is  attached  to  the  top  of  the  coach 
by  a  hinge  at  the  lower  edge.  When  the 
omnibus  is  full,  the  conductor  who  rides  on  the 
step  behind  pulls  up  this  sign,  by  means  of  a 
cord  attached  to  it,  and  then  all  the  people  on 
the  sidewalks  can  see  that  there  is  no  room  for 
them.  When  any  passengers  get  out  so  as  to 
make  room  for  others,  then  the  conductor  lets 
this  sign  down,  and  it  lies  flat  upon  the  top  of 
the  coach,  out  of  sight,  until  the  omnibus  gets 
full  again,  when  it  is  drawn  up  as  before. 

"Complete,"  said  Rollo,  pointing  to  the 
sign,  which  was  up  and  in  full  view.  "That 
omnibus  is  full." 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  133 

"Yes,"  said  Carlos,  <4I  see  him.  His  cap  is 
so  high  that  he  can't  wear  it  in  the  omnibus, 
and  so  he  has  to  take  it  off. " 

"But  there  will  be  another  one  pretty  soon," 
said  Rollo. 

4 'If  I  were  a  soldier,"  said  Carlos,  ltI  would 
never  get  into  an  omnibus  at  all.  I  would 
have  an  elegant  black  horse  with  a  long  tail, 
and  I  would  go  galloping  through  the  streets 
on  my  horse. " 

At  length  an  omnibus  came  along  which  was 
not  full,  and  Rollo  and  Carlos  got  into  it. 
After  meeting  with  various  adventures  on  the 
way,  and  changing  from  one  omnibus  to  an- 
other, according  to  the  system  which  prevails 
in  Paris,  they  finally  reached  the  gates  of  the 
garden.  There  was  a  sentry  box  on  each  side 
of  the  gates,  and  soldiers,  with  bayonets  fixed, 
guarding  the  entrance.  There  were,  however, 
a  great  many  people  going  in.  The  soldiers 
did  not  prevent  them.  They  had  orders  to 
allow  all  persons  who  were  quiet  and  orderly, 
and  had  no  dogs  with  them,  to  enter  freely. 
So  Rollo  and  Carlos  passed  directly  in. 
\/  Rollo's  first  feeling  was  that  of  astonishment 
'at  the  extent  and  variety  of  the  scenes  and 
prospects  which  opened  before  him.  Instead 
of  a  small  garden,  laid  out  in  gravel  walks, 
and  beds  of  flowers,  as  he  had  imagined,  he 
found  himself  entering  a  perfect  maze  of  wind- 
ing walks,  which  were  bordered  on  all  sides 
by  an  endless  variety  of  enclosures,  groups  of 
shrubbery,  groves,  huts,  cabins,  yards,  ponds 
of  water,  and  every  other  element  of  rural  seen- 


134  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

ery.  The  whole,  as  it  first  burst  upon  Rollo's 
eye,  formed  a  most  enchanting  landscape,  and 
extended  farther  than  he  could  see.  The  walks 
meandered  about  in  the  most  winding  and 
devious  ways.  The  spaces  between  them  were 
enclosed  by  neat  little  fences  of  lattice  work, 
and  were  divided  into  little  parks,  or  fields,  in 
each  of  which  some  strange  and  unknown  ani- 
mals were  feeding.  There  were  ponds,  with  a 
quantity  of  birds  of  the  gayest  plumage  sailing 
upon  them;  and  green  slopes,  with  goats,  or 
deer,  or  sheep,  of  the  most  extraordinary 
forms  and  colors,  grazing  in  them.  At  one 
place  Rollo  stopped  to  look  at  a  small  basin  of 
water,  with  a  broad  stone  margin  all  around 
it,  which  was  completely  covered,  with  turtles 
and  tortoises  of  all  colors  and  sizes.  The 
animals  were  lying  there  asleep,  basking  in 
the  sun.  A  little  farther  on  was  a  beautiful 
little  yard,  almost  surrounded  with  trees  and 
shrubbery,  where  three  or  four  ostriches,  with 
long  necks,  and  heads  higher  than  Rollo's, 
were  walking  about  with  a  very  majestic  air. 
And  farther  still  there  was  a  little  field,  the 
occupants  of  which  excited  the  astonishment 
of  the  boys  to  a  still  higher  degree.  They 
were  three  giraffes.  One  of  them,  with  his 
head  twenty  feet  in  the  air,  was  cropping  the 
leaves  from  the  top  of  a  tall  tree.  The  second 
was  standing  still,  quietly  looking  at  the 
groups  of  visitors  that  were  gazing  upon  him 
from  without  the  paling;  while  the  third  was 
amusing  himself  by  galloping  about  the  yard, 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  135 

with  a  sort  of  rolling  motion  that  it  was  most 
astonishing  to  see. 

Rollo  and  Carlos  advanced  among  these 
scenes,  drawn  from  one  to  the  other  by  the 
new  objects  which  everywhere  presented 
themselves  to  view,  and  uttering  to  each  other 
continual  exclamations  of  astonishment.  In 
fact,  they  talked  incessantly  to  one  another  as 
they  walked  on,  pointing  out,  each  to  the 
other,  whatever  attracted  their  attention,  and 
making  all  sorts  of  comments  upon  what  they 
saw. 

Presently  a  low,  bellowing  sound  was  heard 
among  the  trees  at  a  little  distance. 

4 'Hark!"  said  Rollo,  in  English,  putting  his 
hand  upon  Carlos'  shoulder.  "What's  that? 
I  hear  a  roaring. ' ' 

"Hark!"  said  Carlos,  in  Spanish.  "What's 
that?     I  hear  a  roaring." 

Neither  of  the  boys  understood  the  words 
which  the  other  spoke ;  but  they  knew  very 
well  that  they  were  both  listentingto  and  talk- 
ing about  the  roaring. 

"Let's  go  and  see  what  it  is,"  said  Rollo. 

"We'll  go  and  see,"  said  Carlos. 

So  off  they  started  together  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound.  They  walked  along  a  short  dis- 
tance, passing  several  beautiful  little  en- 
closures, where  quiet  and  gentle-looking  ani- 
mals, of  various  forms,  were  grazing  in  their 
mimic  pastures,  or  lying  at  rest  before  the 
doors  of  the  thatched-roofed  cabins  that  had 
been  built  for  them  instead  of  barns,  until  at 
length  they  came  to  a  place  where  a  long 


136  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

range  of  buildings  opened  to  view  before 
them,  the  fronts  of  which,  instead  of  showing 
doors  and  windows,  were  formed  of  gratings  of 
iron.  The  interior  of  this  range  was  divided 
into  compartments,  each  one  of  which  formed 
an  immense  cage.  These  cages  were  all  filled 
with  lions,  tigers,  panthers,  leopards,  hyenas, 
and  other  ferocious  beasts  of  prey.  Some 
were  walking  to  and  fro  restlessly  in  their  nar- 
row prisons;  others  were  lying  down,  and 
others  still  were  crouched  in  a  corner  of  their 
cage,  where  they  remained  motionless,  gazing 
with  a  sullen  air  upon  the  visitors  who  stood 
looking  at  them  from  without  the  grating. 

Rollo  and  Carlos  walked  back  and  forth  in 
front  of  these  cages  several  times,  looking  at 
the  animals.  They  admired  the  beauty  and 
grace  of  the  tigers  and  leopards,  and  the 
majestic  dignity  of  the  lions.  There  were  a 
lion  and  a  lioness  together  in  one  cage.  The 
lioness  was  walking  restlessly  to  and  fro; 
while  the  lion  sat  crouched  in  the  back  part  of 
the  cage,  with  an  expression  upon  his  counten- 
ance in  which  the  lofty  pride  and  majesty  of 
his  character,  and  the  patience  and  submis- 
siveness  which  pertains  to  his  situation,  were 
combined. 

"Poor  fellow!"  said  Rollo,  4tif  I  had  you  and 
your  cage  in  Africa,  where  you  belong,  I  would 
open  the  door  and  let  you  go. " 

Just  at  this  moment  the  attention  of  both 
Rollo  and  Carlos  was  suddenly  arrested  by  a 
most  unearthly  sound  at  a  little  distance  from 
.them,  which  seemed  to  be  intermediate  between 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  137 

a  scream  and  a  roar.  It  was  so  loud,  too,  as 
to  be  truly  terrific. 

"What's  that?"  said  Rollo,  suddenly,  in 
English. 

"Ah,  what  a  dreadful  bray  that  is!"  said 
Carlos,  in  Spanish. 

"Would  you  go  out  there  and  see  what  it 
is>"  said  Rollo. 

"Hark!  Let's  go  there  and  see  what  it  is," 
said  Carlos. 

So  the  boys  started  together  to  go  in  the 
direction  of  the  sound. 

It  is  impossible,  however,  for  a  stranger  in 
the  Garden  of  Plants  to  be  sure  of  going  any 
considerable  distance  in  any  one  direction,  for 
the  walks  are  meandering  and  circuitous  be- 
yond description.  They  wind  about  perpet- 
ually in  endless  mazes;  and  the  little  fields, 
and  parks,  and  gardens  that  are  enclosed 
between  them  are  so  enveloped  in  shrubbery, 
and  the  view,  moreover,  is  so  intercepted  with 
the  huts  and  cabins  built  for  the  animals,  and 
with  the  palings  and  networks  made  to  confine 
them,  that  it  is  impossible  to  see  far  in  any 
direction.  Besides,  there  is  so  much  to  attract 
the  attention,  and  to  excite  curiosity  and  won- 
der, at  every  step,  that  one  is  continually 
drawn  away  from  one  alley  to  another,  till  he 
gets  hopelessly  bewildered. 

The  huts  and  cabins  which  were  made  for 
the  animals  were  very  curious,  and  many  of 
them  were  so  pretty,  with  their  rustic  walls 
and  thatched  roofs,  that  Rollo  was  extremely 
pleased  with  them.     He  stopped  before  one  of 


138  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

them,  which  was  the  residence  of  a  pair  of 
beautiful  llamas,  and  told  Carlos  that  he  meant 
to  ask  his  uncle  George  to  take  particular  notice 
how  it  was  made,  and  so  make  one  for  him  for 
a  playhouse  when  he  got  home. 

44 And  I  wonder,"  said  he,  "where  my  uncle 
George  and  Jennie  are.  I  don't  see  how  we 
are  ever  to  find  them.  I  did  not  know  that 
this  garden  was  so  large  and  so  full  of  trees 
and  bushes. ' ' 

44 Look  here!"  said  Carlos,  pointing  through 
an  opening  in  the  shrubbery  along  the  winding 
walk.     44 What  are  they  doing  there?" 

Rollo,  understanding  the  gesture,  though 
not  the  words,  turned  in  the  direction  that 
Carlos  indicated,  and  saw  that  there  was  quite 
a  crowd  of  men,  women  and  children  at  the 
place,  all  engaged,  evidently,  in  looking  at 
something  or  other  very  intently.  44 Let's  go 
and  see,"  said  Rollo. 

So  the  boys  went  along  that  way  together. 
They  soon  came  in  view  of  a  very  high  and 
strong  palisade,  which,  though  it  was  half 
concealed  by  trees  and  shrubbery,  evidently 
enclosed  quite  a  considerable  area,  in  the  cen- 
ter of  which  was  a  large  stone  building,  like  a 
castle,  with  projecting  wings  and  towers,  and 
immense  gateways  opening  into  it  on  various 
sides.  This  building  was  the  residence  of  all 
the  monsters — the  elephants,  the  giraffes,  the 
rhinoceros,  and  the  hippopotamus.  Each  of 
these  species  had  its  own  separate  apartment 
in  the  castle ;  and  the  ground  surrounding  it, 
within  the  great  palisade,  was  divided  into  as 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  139 

many  yards  as  there  were  doors ;  so  that  each 
kind  of  animal  had  its  own  proper  enclosure. 
In  one  of  these  enclosures  the  rhinoceros  was 
walking  about,  clothed  in  his  plated  and  invul- 
nerable hide ;  and  in  the  next  there  were  two 
elephants.  The  crowd  of  people  were  chiefly 
occupied  in  looking  at  the  elephants.  The  pal- 
isade was  very  heavy  and  strong,  being  formed 
of  timbers  pointed  at  the  top,  and  nearly  as 
high  as  the  elephants  could  reach.  These  pal- 
isades were,  however,  not  close  together. 
They  were  far  enough  apart  to  allow  of  the 
elephants  putting  their  trunks  through  to  the 
people  outside,  and  also  to  give  the  people  a 
good  opportunity  to  look.  Though  these  tim- 
bers were  thus  set  at  some  distance  apart  from 
each  other,  they  were  still  connected  together, 
and  all  held  firmly  in  their  places,  by  two  iron 
rails  which  passed  through  them  all,  one  near 
the  top,  and  the  other  near  the  bottom,  of  the 
palisades,  all  along  the  range.  They  thus 
formed  a  fencing  so  heavy  and  strong  that 
even  the  elephants  could  not  break  it  down. 

The  visitors  could  not  come  quite  up  to  the 
elephants;  for  outside  of  this  great  palisade,  at 
a  distance  of  about  three  feet  from  it,  there 
was  a  high  paling,  made  expressly  to  keep  the 
spectators  back.  At  the  time  when  Rollo  and 
Carlos  came  to  the  place,  the  elephants  were 
putting  their  trunks  through  to  the  people,  in 
order  to  be  fed  with  nuts,  cakes,  gingerbread 
and  other  such  things  which  the  people  hind 
ready  to  give  them.  Sometimes  they  would 
order  the  elephants  to  hold  up  their  trunks  and 


140  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

open  their  mouths,  and  then  the  men  would 
try  to  toss  pieces  of  gingerbread  in.  The 
elephants  were  always  ready  to  do  this  when 
ordered,  though  their  mouths,  when  they 
opened  them,  were  so  small  that  the  people 
very  seldom  succeeded  in  aiming  the  missile  so 
that  it  would  go  in. 

Rollo  and  Carlos  looked  about  among  the 
crowd  that  were  assembled  at  this  place  to  see 
if  Mr.  George  was  among  them ;  but  he  was 
not ;  and  so,  after  amusing  themselves  for  some 
time  with  the  elephants,  they  walked  along  to 
see  what  else  there  was  in  the  garden. 

There  were  a  great  many  people  in  the  gar- 
den besides  those  who  seemed  to  have  come  to 
see  the  animals.  There  were  groups  of  chil- 
dren, that  seemed  to  belong  in  the  vicinity, 
playing  in  the  walks,  some  jumping  ropes,  and 
others  building  little  houses  of  gravel  stones. 
There  were  women  seated  on  benches  in  vari- 
ous little  shady  nooks  and  corners,  some  sew- 
ing, others  taking  care  of  babies ;  while  others, 
at  little  stands  and  stalls,  sold  gingerbread  and 
cakes.  At  one  place  Rollo  stopped  to  look  at 
two  little  children  that  were  playing  in  the 
gravel  and  throwing  the  little  pebble  stones 
about.  Their  grandmother,  who  was  sitting 
near,  said  something  to  them  in  French. 

"What  does  she  say?"  asked  Carlos. 

"She  says,"  replied  Rollo,  "you  must  not 
throw  gravel  in  your  little  sister's  face." 

The  question  in  this  case  and  the  answer  fit- 
ted each  other  very  well ;  but  it  was  a  mere 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  141 

matter  of  accident,  for  neither  of  the  boys  un- 
derstood what  the  other  had  said. 

Pretty  soon  the  boys  came  to  a  place  where 
a  great  number  of  people  were  standing  on  a 
sort  of  parapet,  and  leaning  upon  an  iron  rail- 
ing, where  they  seemed  to  be  looking  down 
into  some  cavity.  They  hurried  to  the  place, 
and,  stepping  up  upon  the  parapet,  they  looked 
down,  too,  and  found  there  a  range  of  dens 
below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  all  full  of 
bears.  These  dens  were  sunken  yards,  six  or 
eight  feet  deep,  and  enclosed  with  perpendicu- 
lar walls  all  around,  so  that  the  bears  could  not 
possibly  get  out.  There  were  iron  railings 
around  the  top,  and  a  great  many  people  were 
standing  there  looking  down  at  the  bears. 
There  were  four  or  five  of  these  yards,  all  in  a 
row ;  and  as  there  were  many  great  trees  over- 
shadowing them,  the  place  was  cool  and  pleas- 
ant. Some  of  the  bears  were  walking  about  on 
the  stone  pavement  which  formed  the  bottom 
of  the  dens ;  others  were  sitting  on  their  hind 
legs,  and  holding  up  their  fore  paws  to  catch 
the  pieces  of  gingerbread  which  were  thrown 
down  to  them  by  the  people  above.  There 
were  a  number  of  little  birds  hopping  about 
there,  picking  up  the  crums  that  were  left, 
though  they  took  care  to  keep  out  of  the  way 
of  the  bears.  Rollo  and  Carlos  bought  some 
cakes  of  gingerbread  of  a  woman  who  kept  a 
stall  near  by,  and,  breaking  them  into  pieces, 
they  threw  them  down  to  the  bears.  They 
threw  the  most  to  a  great  white  bear  that  was 
in  one  of  the  dens,  and  who  particularly  attract- 


142  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

ed  their  attention.  Rollo  told  Carlos  that  he 
supposed  this  bear  must  have  come  from  the 
north  pole.  The  boys  were  both  by  this  time 
rather  hungry ;  but  they  were  so  much  inter- 
estd  in  seeing  the  bears  try  to  catch  the  pieces 
of  gingerbread  that  they  did  not  think  to  eat 
any  of  it  themselves,  but  threw  it  all  down  to 
them,  all  except  one  piece  which  Rollo  gave 
to  a  little  girl  who  stood  beside  him,  to  let  her 
throw  it,  because  she  had  none  of  her  own. 
For  this  kindness  the  girl  thanked  Rollo,  in 
French,  in  a  very  polite  and  proper  manner. 

After  being  satisfied  with  seeing  the  bears, 
the  boys  wandered  on  wherever  they  saw  the 
most  to  attract  them,  until  at  length  they  came 
to  what  is  called  the  palace  of  the  monkeys, 
which  pleased  them  more  than  anything  they 
had  seen.  This  palace  is  an  enormous  round 
cage,  as  high  as  a  house,  and  nearly  a  hundred 
feet  in  diameter,  with  a  range  of  stone  build- 
ings all  around  it  on  the  back  side.  These 
buildings  have  little  rooms  in  them,  where  the 
monkeys  live  in  the  winter,  and  where  they 
always  sleep  at  night.  They  go  out  into  the 
cage  to  play.  The  cage  is  formed  of  slender 
iron  posts  and  railing,  so  that  the  people  stand- 
ing outside  can  see  the  monkeys  at  their  sports 
11  I  gambols.  They  play  with  each  other  in 
every  possible  way,  and  frolic  just  as  if  they 
were  in  their  native  woods.  They  climb  up 
the  smooth  iron  posts,  pursuing  one  another ; 
and,  then,  leaping  across  through  the  air,  they 
catch  upon  a  rope,  from  which  they  swing 
themselves  across  to  the  branch  of  a  tree. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  143 

Some  of  these  branches  have  bells  attached  to 
them;  and  the  monkey,  when  he  gets  upon 
such  a  one,  will  spring  it  up  and  down  till  he 
sets  the  bell  to  ringing,  and,  then,  assisted  by 
the  return  of  the  branch,  he  bounds  away 
through  the  air  to  some  rope,  or  pole,  or  rail- 
ing that  he  sees  within  his  reach.  The  agility 
which  these  animals  display  in  these  feats  is 
truly  astonishing. 

Rollo  and  Carlos  watched  their  evolutions 
with  great  interest.  There  was  an  excellent 
place  to  see,  for  the  land  opposite  the  cage 
ascended  in  such  a  manner  that  those  more 
remote  could  look  over  the  heads  of  those  that 
were  nearer.  Besides  this,  there  were  quite  a 
number  of  chairs  under  the  trees,  at  the  upper 
part  of  this  ascent;  and  Rollo,  perceiving  that 
several  of  them  were  vacant,  sat  down  in  one, 
and  made  a  sign  to  Carlos  to  sit  down  in  an- 
other. They  could  now  look  at  the  monkeys, 
and  rest  at  the  same  time.  Presently  a  woman 
came  along  and  said  to  Rollo,  in  French : 

44 Please  pay  the  chairs,  sir." 

Rollo  recollected  immediately  that  at  all 
such  places  in  Paris  chairs  were  kept  to  be  let, 
those  who  used  them  paying  two  sous  apiece 
for  the  privilege.  So  he  took  out  four  sous  and 
gave  the  woman. 

44 1  did  not  think  of  there  being  anything  to 
pay  for  these  chairs, ' '  said  he  to  Carlos.  4 4  But 
then,  I  don't  care.  It  is  worth  four  sous  to 
get  a  good  rest,  as  tired  as  I  am.  I'm  pretty 
hungry,  too.  I  wish  I  had  not  given  all  my 
gingerbread  to  the  bears." 


144  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

Carlos  made  no  reply  to  this  suggestion, 
though  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  would  have 
readily  assented  to  what  Rollo  said,  if  he  had 
understood  it.  The  boys  remained  some  time 
looking  at  the  monkeys,  and  then  strolled  away 
into  other  parts  of  the  garden.  Very  soon 
they  came  to  a  place  where  Rollo  spied  at  some 
distance  before  him  under  some  immense  old 
trees  in  a  sort  of  a  valley,  what  he  thought 
was  a  restaurant. 

"See  these  monstrous  big  trees!"  said  Car- 
los; "and  there  are  tables  under  them." 

The  boys  made  all  haste  to  the  spot,  and 
found  to  their  great  joy  that  it  was  a  restau- 
rant. There  was  a  plain  but  very  picturesque- 
looking  house,  antique  and  venerable;  and 
before  it,  on  a  green,  under  the  spreading 
branches  of  some  enormous  old  trees,  a  num- 
ber of  small  tables,  with  seats  around  them. 

"Now,  Carlos, "  said  Rollo,  "we  will  have 
some  bread  and  butter  and  a  good  cup  of 
coffee." 

So  they  sat  down  at  one  of  the  pleasantest 
tables,  and  very  soon  a  waiter  came  to  see 
what  they  would  have.  Rollo  called  for  coffee 
and  bread  and  butter  for  two.  In  a  short  time 
the  waiter  came,  bringing  two  great  cups, 
which  he  filled  half  with  coffee  and  half  with 
boiled  milk.  He  brought  also  a  supply  of 
very  nice  butter,  and  a  loaf  of  bread  shaped 
like  a  stick  of  wood.  It  was  about  as  large 
round  as  Rollo's  arm,  and  twice  as  long.  The 
waiter  laid  this  bread  across  the  table  for  Rollo 
and  Carlos  to  cut  off  as  much  from  it  as  they 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  145 

might  want.      This  is  what  they  call  having 
"bread  at  discretion." 

The  boys  enjoyed  this  banquet  very  much 
indeed.  Besides  the  coffee,  they  had  water, 
which  they  sweetened  in  the  tumblers  with 
large  lumps  of  white  sugar.  They  talked  all 
the  time  while  they  were  eating,  each  in  his 
own  language,  and  laughed  very  merrily. 
"After  all,"  said  Rollo,  "this  is  the  very  best 
place  in  the  whole  garden.  Feeding  the  bears 
is  very  good  fun ;  but  this  is  infinitely  better.  " 

After  remaining  for  half  an  hour  at  the 
table,  and  eating  till  their  appetites  were  com- 
pletely satisfied,  they  concluded  to  go  back 
and  see  the  monkeys  again. 

In  the  meantime,  Mr.  George  and  his  friend, 
with  Jennie,  had  been  engaged  in  an  entirely 
different  part  of  the  garden;  for  the  whole 
enclosure  is  so  large  that  it  takes  many  days 
to  see  the  whole.  On  one  side,  bordering  on 
a  street,  there  is  a  long  row  of  houses  and  gar- 
dens, occupied  by  professors,  who  give  courses 
of  lectures  on  the  plants  and  animals  which 
the  garden  contains.  On  another  is  a  mag- 
nificent range  of  buildings,  occupied  as  a 
museum,  containing  endless  collections  of 
dried  plants,  of  minerals  and  shells,  of  skele- 
tons, and  the  stuffed  skins  of  birds  and  beasts. 
Then  there  is  a  very  large  tract  of  level  land, 
between  two  splendid  avenues,  all  laid  out  in 
beds  of  plants  and  flowers,  forming  a  series  of 
parterres,  extending  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach, 
and  presenting  the  gayest  and  most  beautiful 
combination  of  colors  that  can  be  conceived. 

10    Paris 


146  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

Jennie  was  very  much  delighted  with  all  these 
things,  as  she  walked  about  in  these  parts  of 
the  garden  with  her  uncle,  though  she  was 
somewhat  uneasy  all  the  time  because  she  could 
not  see  anything  of  Rollo. 

"I  don't  believe,"  said  she  at  last  to  her 
uncle,  as  they  were  standing  on  the  margin  of 
a  beautiful  little  artificial  pond,  full  of  lilies 
and  other  aquatic  plants,  "I  don't  believe  that 
we  can  find  him  at  all  in  such  a  large  garden. " 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George;  "there'll  be  no 
difficulty.  There  is  one  universal  rule  for  find- 
ing boys  in  the  Garden  of  Plants." 

"What  is  that?"  asked  Jennie. 

"Go  to  the  places  where  they  keep  the  mon- 
keys and  the  elephants,"  said  Mr.  George; 
"and  if  you  don't  find  them  thereat  once,  wait 
a  few  minutes,  and  they'll  be  pretty  sure  to 
come." 

It  was  as  Mr.  George  had  predicted ;  for,  on 

going  to  the  palace  of  the  monkeys,  there  they 

found  Rollo  and  Carlos  laughing  very  heartily 

to  see   a  big  monkey  holding  a  little  one  in  its 

rms  as  a  human  mother  would  hold  a  baby. 

The  party,  when  thus  united,  went  together 
nee  more  over  the  principal  places  where  the 
two  divisions  of  it  had  gone  separately  before, 
so  that  all  might  have  a  general  idea  of  the 
whole  domain;  and  then,  going  out  at  a  differ- 
ent gate  from  the  one  by  which  they  had 
entered,  they  went  home,  all  resolving  to  come 
again,  if  possible,  at  some  future  day. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  14? 


CHAPTER  IX. 

AN    EXCURSION. 

One  day,  about  one  o'clock,  after  Rollo  had 
been  in  Paris  about  a  fortnight,  he  came  into 
the  hotel  from  a  walk  which  he  had  been  tak- 
ing, and  there  found  his  mother  and  Jennie 
putting  on  their  bonnets.  He  asked  them 
where  they  were  going.  They  said  they  were 
going  to  take  a  ride  with  Mr.  George. 

"May  I  go,  too?"  asked  Rollo. 

"Why — yes,"  said  his  mother,  hesitatingly. 
" 1  suppose  there  will  be  room.  Or  you  may 
stay  at  home  here  with  your  father.  He  is 
asleep  in  his  room." 

It  is  generally  the  case  with  children,  both 
boys  and  girls,  when  they  are  young,  that  if 
they  can  get  any  sort  of  consent,  however 
reluctant,  from  their  parents,  to  any  of  their 
requests,  they  are  satisfied,  and  take  the  boon 
thus  hesitatingly  accorded  to  them  as  readily 
as  if  it  had  been  granted  to  them  in  the  freest 
and  most  cordial  manner.  With  gentlemen 
and  ladies,  however,  it  is  different.  They  gen- 
erally have  more  delicacy,  and  are  seldom  will- 
ing to  accept  of  any  favor  unless  circum- 
stances are  such  that  it  can  be  granted  in  a 
very  free  and  cordial  manner.  They  will 
scarcely  ever,  in  any  case,  ask  to  be  permitted 


148  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

to  join  any  party  that  others  have  formed ;  and 
when  they  do  ask,  if  they  perceive  the  slightest 
doubt  or  hesitation  on  the  part  of  their  friends 
in  acceding  to  their  proposal,  they  infer  that 
it  would  be,  for  some  reason  or  other,  incon- 
venient for  them  to  go ;  and  they  accordingly, 
at  once,  give  up  all  intention  of  going. 

Rollo,  though  still  a  boy,  was  beginning  to 
have  some  of  the  honorable  sentiments  and 
feelings  of  a  man;  and  when  he  perceived  that 
his  mother  hesitated  a  little  about  granting  his 
request,  he  decided  immediately  not  to  go  and 
ride.  Besides,  he  liked  the  idea  of  staying 
with  his  father. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "I  will  stay  here.  My 
father  may  wish  for  something  when  he  wakes 
up." 

"I  don't  suppose,  however,  after  all,"  added 
his  mother,  "that  it  is  really  necessary  for  you 
to  stay  on  his  account.  His  bell  is  within 
reach ;  and  Alfred  will  come  immediately  when 
he  rings." 

"But  I  should  like  to  stay,"  said  Rollo; 
"and  besides,  I  can  get  ahead  one  more  day  in 
my  French." 

Rollo  was  writing  a  course  of  French  exer- 
cises, and  his  task  was  one  lesson  for  every 
day.  The  rule  was,  that  he  was  to  write  this 
exercise  immediately  after  breakfast,  unless  he 
had  written  it  before;  that  is,  either  on  the 
same  day  before  breakfast,  or  on  a  previous 
day.  Now,  Rollo  desired  to  be  free  after 
breakfast,  for  that  was  a  very  pleasant  time  to 
go  out.       Besides,  there  were  often  plans  and 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  149 

excursions  formed  for  that  time,  which  he  was 
invited  to  join,  and  he  could  not  join  them 
unless  his  lesson  for  the  day  had  been  written. 
So  he  took  pains  to  write  his  exercises,  as  much 
as  possible,  in  advance.  Whenever  there  came 
a  rainy  day  he  would  write  two  or  three  les- 
sons, and  sometimes  he  would  write  early  in 
the  morning.  He  was  now  nearly  a  week  in 
advance.  Instead  of  being  satisfied  with  this, 
however,  he  began  to  be  quite  interested  in 
seeing  how  far  ahead  he  could  get.  This  feel- 
ing was  what  led  him  to  think  that  he  would 
take  this  opportunity  to  write  a  French  lesson. 

Accordingly,  when  his  mother  and  Jennie 
had  gone,  he  seated  himself  at  his  table  and 
began  his  work.  The  writing  of  the  exercise 
took  about  an  hour.  When  the  work  was  fin- 
ished, and  while  Rollo  was  preparing  to  put  his 
books  away,  he  heard  a  movement  in  his 
father's  room.  He  got  up  from  his  seat  and 
opened  the  door  gently,  saying, — 

"Father,  are  you  awake?" 

"Yes,"  said  his  father.  "Are  you  there, 
Rollo?" 

Rollo  found  his  father  sitting  up  in  a  great 
arm  chair,  by  the  side  of  his  bed.  He  had  a 
dressing  gown  on. 

"How  do  you  feel,  father?"  said  Rollo. 

"I  think  I  feel  better,"  said  Mr  Holiday. 
As  he  said  this  he  put  on  his  slippers,  and  then 
stood  up  upon  the  rug  that  lay  in  front  of  his 
bed. 

"Yes,"  said  he,  " I  certainly  feel  better— a 
great  deal  better." 


150  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

t4I  am  very  glad,"  said  Rollo. 

"Where  is  your  mother?"  asked  Mr.  Holi- 
day, as  he  walked  across  the  room  to  the  glass. 

4 '  She  has  gone  out  to  take  a  ride, ' '  said  Rollo, 
44 with  uncle  George  and  Jennie." 

4 'That's  right,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "lam 
very  glad  that  she  has  gone.  And  have  you 
been  staying  here  to  take  care  of  me?"  he 
asked. 

44 Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo.  44I  have  been  writ- 
ing another  French  lesson.  I  have  got  them 
all  written  now  to  next  Friday." 

44Ah,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  "that's  excellent. 
That's  what  the  farmers  call  being  fore- 
handed." 

44 Now,  Rollo,"  said  Mr.  Holiday,  after  a 
little  pause,  44I  feel  so  much  better  that  I 
should  like  to  go  somewhere  and  take  a  ride 
myself.  I  don't  care  much  where.  If  there 
is  anywhere  that  you  wish  to  go,  I  will  go 
with  you.  Come,  I  will  put  myself  entirely  at 
your  disposal.  Let  us  see  what  you  can  do  to 
give  me  a  ride  and  entertain  me." 

Rollo  was  very  much  pleased  indeed  with 
this  proposal.  He  decided  instantly  what  he 
would  do.  He  had  seen  that  morning  an  affix, 
as  the  French  call  it,  that  is,  a  placard  posted 
on  a  wall  among  a  hundred  others,  setting 
forth  that  there  was  to  be  a  balloon  ascension 
that  afternoon  at  the  Hippodrome,  at  three 
o'clock,  to  be  followed  by  various  equestrian 
performances.  Rollo  immediately  mentioned 
this  to  his  father,  and  asked  him  if  he  should 
be  willing  to  go  there.     His  father  said  that  he 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  151 

should ;  adding,   that  he  would  like  to  see  the 
balloon  go  up  very  much. 

"Then  when  we  come  home,"  said  Rollo, 
"you  must  ride  slowly  along  through  the 
Elysian  Fields,  and  let  me  see  the  booths,  and 
the  games  that  they  are  playing  there." 

"Very  well,"  said  his  father;  "I  will  take 
some  newspapers  with  me,  and  I  will  sit  still 
in  the  carriage  while  you  go  and  see  the  booths 
and  the  games." 

This  plan  being  thus  resolved  upon,  and  all 
aranged,  Alfred  was  summoned  and  ordered 
to  get  the  carriage  ready,  and  to  put  the  top 
down.  When  Alfred  reported  that  the  carri- 
age was  at  the  door,  Mr.  Holiday  and  Rollo 
went  down  and  got  in,  and  were  soon  in  the 
midst  of  the  stream  of  equipages  that  were 
going  up  the  grand  avenue  of  the  Elysian 
Fields.  They  arrived  at  the  Hippodrome  in 
time  to  get  an  excellent  seat,  and  they 
remained  there  two  hours.  They  saw  the  bal- 
loon, with  a  man  and  young  girl  in  the  car 
below  it,  rise  majestically  into  the  air,  and  soar 
away  until  it  was  out  of  sight.  The  fearless 
aeronauts  seemed  entirely  at  their  ease  while 
they  were  ascending  to  the  dizzy  height. 
They  sat  in  the  car  waving  banners  and  throw 
ing  down  bouquets  of  flowers  as  long  as  they 
could  be  seen. 

After  this  there  was  a  series  of  performances 
with  horses,  which  delighted  Rollo  very  much. 
Troops  of  men  came  out  upon  the  arena, 
mounted  on  beautiful  chargers,  and  armed 
with  lances  and  coats  of  mail,   as  in   ancient 


152  .  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

times.  After  riding  their  elegantly  capari- 
soned horses  round  and  round  the  ring  several 
times,  they  formed  into  squadrons  and  attacked 
each  other  with  their  lances  in  sham  battles. 
After  this,  fences  of  hurdles  were  put  up 
across  the  course,  in  various  places,  and  girls, 
mounted  on  beautiful  white  horses  and  ele- 
gantly dressed,  rode  round,  leaping  over  the 
fences  in  a  surprising  manner.  These  and 
similar  performances  continued  until  near  five 
o'clock,  and  then  the  immense  assembly  broke 
up,  and  the  people,  some  in  carriages  and  some 
on  foot,  moved  away  over  the  various  roads 
and  avenues  which  diverge  from  the  Star. 

Rollo  and  his  father  got  into  their  carriage, 
which  had  been  waitingfor  them  all  this  time, 
and  passing  the  Triumphal  Arch,  they  entered 
the  Grand  Avenue  of  the  Elysian  Fields,  on 
their  return  to  the  city. 

They  descended  the  slope  which  led  down  to 
the  Round  Point  at  a  rapid  rate.  Here,  after 
passing  the  Round  Point,  the  road  became 
level,  and  the  region  of  groves  and  booths,  and 
of  games  and  frolicking,  began. 

"Now,"  said  Rollo,  "I  should  like  to  drive 
slowly,  so  that,  if  I  come  to  anything  that  I 
wish  to  get  out  and  see,  I  can  see  it." 

"Very  well,"  said  his  father;  "give  Alfred 
your  orders. " 

"Alfred,"  said  Rollo,  "draw  up  as  near  as 
you  can  to  the  sidewalk  on  the  right  hand,  and 
walk  the  horses,  so  that  I  can  see  what  there 
is," 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  153 


i*« 


;And  in  the  meantime,"  said  Mr.  Holiday, 
"I  will  read  my  papers." 

So  Mr.  Holiday  took  his  newspapers  out  of 
his  pocket  and  began  to  read  them,  while 
Rollo,  standing  up  in  the  carriage,  began  to 
survey  the  crowd  that  filled  the  walks  and 
groves  that  bordered  the  avenue,  in  order  to 
select  some  object  of  attraction  to  be  examined 
more  closely. 

4 'Only  I  wish,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "that  I 
had  somebody  here  with  me  to  go  and  see  the 
things — Jennie  or  Carlos.  I  wish  Carlos  was 
here." 

"It  is  very  easy  to  go  and  get  him,"  said  his 
father,   with  his   eyes   still  on  his  newspaper. 

"May  I?"  said  Rollo. 

"Anything  you  please,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 
"You  are  in  command  this  afternoon.  You 
may  give  Alfred  any  orders  you  please." 

"Then,  Alfred,"  said  Rollo,  "drive  to  the 
Hotel  Louvois  as  fast  as  you  can." 

As  he  said  this,  Mr.  Holiday  folded  up  his 
paper  and  Rollo  took  his  seat,  while  Alfred, 
turning  the  horses  away  from  the  sidewalk,  set 
them  to  trotting  briskly  along  the  avenue. 

"Only,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "I  shall  prevent 
your  reading  your  papers. " 

"No  matter  for  that,"  said  Mr.  Holiday. 
"I  shall  like  a  good  brisk  ride  along  the  Boule- 
vards quite  as  well." 

The  horses,  kept  always  by  Alfred  in  the 
very  best  condition,  trotted  forward  at  a  rapid 
rate,  leaving  scores  of  omnibuses,  cabs,  and 
citadines  behind,   and  keeping  pace  with  the 


154  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

splendid  chariots  of  the  French  and  English 
aristocracy  that  thronged  the  avenue.  Pres- 
ently Rollo  observed  a  peculiar  movement 
among  the  carriages  before  them,  as  if  they 
were  making  way  for  something  that  was  com- 
ing; and  at  the  same  time  he  saw  hundreds  of 
people  running  forward  from  the  groves  and 
booths,  across  the  side  avenues,  to  the  margin 
of  the  carriage  way. 

"The  emperor!"  said  Alfred,  drawing  in  his 
horses  at  the  same  time. 

An  instant  afterward,  Rollo,  who,  on  hear- 
ing Alfred's  words,  started  from  his  seat  and 
stood  up  in  the  carriage  to  look,  saw  two  ele- 
gantly dressed  officers,  in  splendid  uniforms, 
galloping  along  toward  them  in  the  middle  of 
the  avenue.  They  were  followed  at  a  little 
distance  by  two  others ;  and  then  came  a  very 
beautiful  barouche,  drawn  by  four  glossy  black 
horses,  magnificently  caparisoned.  Two 
gentlemen  were  seated  in  this  carriage,  one  of 
whom  bowed  repeatedly  to  the  crowd  that 
were  gazing  at  the  spectacle  from  the  sides  of 
the  avenue  as  he  rode  rapidly  along.  Behind 
this  carriage  came  another,  with  a  gentleman 
and  a  lady  in  it,  and  afterward  two  more  troop- 
ers. The  whole  cavalcade  moved  on  so  rapidly, 
that,  before  Rollo  had  had  scarcely  time  to 
look  at  it,  it  had  passed  entirely  by. 

"The  emperor!"  said  Alfred  to  Rollo.  "He 
is  going  out  to  take  a  ride. " 

"Is  that  the  emperor?"  exclaimed  Rollo. 
"He  looks  like  any  common  man.  But  if  I 
had  foui  such  beautiful  black  horses  as  he  has 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  155 

got,  I  should  be  glad.  I  would  drive  them 
myself,  instead  of  having  a  coachman." 

The  movement  and  the  sensation  produced 
by  the  passing  of  the  emperor  and  his  train 
along  the  avenue  immediately  subsided,  and 
the  other  carriages  resumed  their  ordinary 
course.  Alfred's  horses  trotted  on  faster  than 
ever.  A  thousand  picturesque  and  striking 
objects  glided  rapidly  by — the  trees  and  the 
booths  of  the  Elysian  Fields ;  the  tall,  gilded 
lampposts,  and  the  spouting  fountains  of  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde;  omnibuses,  cabs, 
wagons,  chariots,  and  foot  passengers  without 
number;  and,  finally,  the  tall  column  of  the 
Place  Vendome.  Winding  round  in  a  graceful 
curve  through  this  magnificent  square,  the  car- 
riage roiled  on  in  the  direction  of  the  Boule- 
vards, and,  after  going  rapidly  on  for  nearly 
half  a  mile  in  that  spacious  avenue,  it  turned 
into  the  street  which  led  to  the  hotel.  It 
stopped,  at  length,  before  the  door,  and  Rollo 
got  out  while  Mr.  Holiday  remained  in  the 
carriage.  Rollo  went  up  stairs,  and  after 
about  five  minutes  he  came  down  again,  bring- 
ing not  only  Carlos  with  him,  but  also  his 
uncle  George.  Mr.  Holiday  invited  Mr. 
George  to  go  with  them  for  the  remainder  of 
the  ride.  This  invitation  Mr.  George 
accepted ;  and  so  the  two  gentlemen  taking  the 
back  seat,  and  Rollo  and  Carlos  the  front, 
Alfred  took  them  all  back  to  the  Elysian  Fields 
together. 

They  remained  nearly  an  hour  in  the  Elysian 
Fields.       During  this  time  Rollo's  father  and 


156  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

his  uncle  George  staid  in  the  carriage  by  the 
roadside,  talking  together,  while  Rollo  and 
Carlos  went  in  among  the  walks  and  groves  to 
see  the  various  spectacles  which  were  exhibited 
there.  They  would  come  back  from  time  to 
time  to  the  carriage,  in  order  that  Rollo  might 
describe  to  his  father  what  they  found,  or  ask 
permission  to  take  part  in  some  amusement. 
For  instance,  at  one  time  he  came  and  said, 
very  eagerly, — 

"Father,  here  is  a  great  whirling  machine, 
with  ships  and  horses  going  round  and  round. 
Carlos  and  I  want  to  ride  on  it.  The  horses 
are  in  pairs,  two  together.  Carlos  can  get  on 
one  of  them,  in  one  of  the  pairs,  and  I  on  the 
other.  We  can  go  round  twenty  times  for  two 
sous. ' ' 

"Very  well,"  said  his  father. 

So  Rollo  and  Carlos  went  back  to  the  whirl- 
ing machine.  It  was  very  large,  and  was  very 
gayly  painted,  and  ornamented  with  flags  and 
banners.  The  vessels  and  the  horses  were 
attached  to  the  ends  of  long  arms,  which  were 
supported  by  iron  rods  that  came  down  from 
the  top  of  the  central  post,  so  that  they  were 
very  strong.  The  horses  were  as  large  as  small 
ponies,  and  the  vessels  were  as  big  as  little 
boats — each  one  having  seats  for  four  children. 
When  Rollo  and  Carlos  went  back,  the  machine 
and  just  taken  up  its  complement  of  passengers 
for  one  turn,  and  was  then  commencing  its 
rotation.  There  were  a  great  many  persons 
standing  by  it,  pleased  to  see  how  happy  the 
children  were   in  going   round   §9   merrily. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  157 

There  was  an  iron  paling  all  around  the 
machine,  to  keep  the  spectators  at  a  safe  dis- 
tance, otherwise  they  might  come  too  near, 
and  so  be  struck,  and  perhaps  seriously  hurt, 
by  the  horses  or  the  boats,  when  they  were 
put  in  motion. 

As  soon  as  the  twenty  turns  had  been  taken 
the  machine  stopped,  and  the  children  who  had 
had  their  ride  were  taken  off  the  horses  and 
out  of  the  boats,  all  except  a  few  who  were 
going  to  pay  again  and  have  a  second  ride. 
Rollo  and  Carlos  then  went  inside  the  enclos- 
ure, and,  going  up  some  steps  placed  there  for 
the  purpose,  they  mounted  their  horses.  Very 
soon  the  machine  began  to  revolve,  and  they 
were  whirled  round  and  round  twenty  times 
with  the  greatest  rapidity.  The  arms  of  the 
machine,  too,  were  long,  so  that  the  circle 
which  the  horses  and  the  vessels  described  was 
quite  large,  and  the  whole  twenty  revolutions 
made  quite  a  considerable  ride. 

After  finishing  their  circuit  and  dismounting 
from  their  horses,  the  boys  next  came  to  a 
whirling  machine,  which  revolved  vertically 
instead  of  horizontally;  that  is,  instead  of 
whirling  the  rider  round  and  round  near  the 
level  of  the  ground,  it  carried  them  up,  over, 
and  down.  There  was  a  great  wheel,  which 
revolved  on  an  axis,  like  a  vertical  mill-wheel. 
This  wheel  was  double,  and  between  the  two 
circumferences  the  seats  of  the  passengers  were 
hung  in  such  a  manner  that  in  revolving  they 
swung  freely,  so  as  to  keep  the  heads  of  the 
people  always  uppermost.      These   seats  had 


158  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

high  backs  and  sides,  and  a  sort  of  bar  in  front 
for  the  people  to  take  hold  of,  otherwise  there 
would  \ave  been  great  danger  of  their  falling 
out.  As  it  was,  they  were  carried  so  swiftly, 
and  so  high,  and  the  seats  swung  to  and  fro  so 
violently  when  the  machine  was  in  rapid 
motion,  that  the  men  and  girls  who  were  in  the 
seats  filled  the  ear  with  their  screams  and 
shouts  of  laughter. 

Rollo  and  Carlos,  after  seeing  this  machine 
revolve,  went  to  the  carriage  to  ask  if  they 
might  go  in  it  the  next  time. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Holiday.  "I  am  not  sure 
that  it  is  safe." 

So  the  boys  went  away  from  the  carriage 
back  under  the  trees  again,  and  walked  along 
to  see  what  the  next  exhibition  might  be.  The 
carriage  moved  on  in  the  avenue  a  little  way 
to  keep  up  with  them. 

The  boys  strolled  along  through  the  crowd  a 
little  while  longer,  looking  for  a  moment,  as 
they  passed,  now  at  the  stalls  for  selling  ginger 
bread  and  cakes,  now  at  a  display  of  pictures 
on  a  long  line, — the  sheets  being  fastened  to 
the  line  by  pins,  like  clothes  upon  a  clothes 
line, — now  at  a  company  of  singers,  singing 
upon  a  stage  under  a  canopy,  and  now  again 
at  a  little  boy,  about  seven  or  eight  years  old, 
who  was  tumbling  head  over  heels  on  a  little 
carpet  which  he  had  spread  on  the  ground,  and 
then  carrying  round  his  cap  to  the  bystanders, 
in  hopes  that  some  of  them  would  give  him  a 
sou.  At  length  their  attention  was  attracted 
by  some  large  boys,  who  were  engaged  at  a 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  159 

stand  at  a  ittle  distance  in  shooting  at  a  mark 
with  what  seemed  to  small  guns.  These  guns, 
however,  discharged  themselves  by  means  of  a 
spring  coiled  up  within  the  barrel,  instead  of 
gunpowder;  and  the  bullets  which  they  shot 
were  peas.  Rollo  had  seen  these  shooting- 
places  before,  when  he  went  through  the 
Fields  on  the  First  Sunday  after  he  came;  so 
he  did  not  stop  long  here,  but  called  Carlos's 
attention  to  something  that  he  had  never  seen 
before,  which  was  going  on  at  a  place  a  little 
under  a  tree,  a  little  farther  along.  A  large 
boy  seemtd  to  be  pitching  quoits.  There 
were  a  number  of  persons  around  him  looking 
on.  There  was  a  sort  of  box  placed  near  the 
tree,  the  bottom  of  which  was  about  two  feet 
square.  It  had  a  back  next  the  tree,  and  two 
sides,  but  it  had  no  front  or  top.  In  fact,  it 
was  almost  precisely  like  a  wheelbarrow  with- 
out any  wheels,  legs,  or  handles. 

The  bottom  or  floor  of  this  box  had  a  great 
many  round  and  flat  plates  of  brass  upon  it, 
about  four  inches  in  diameter,  and  about  four 
inches  apart  from  each  other.  The  player  had 
ten  other  plates  in  his  hand,  of  the  same  size 
with  those  which  were  upon  the  bottom  of  the 
plate.  He  took  these,  one  by  one,  and  stand- 
ing back  at  a  certain  distance,  perhaps  about 
as  far  as  one  good  long  pace,  pitched  them,  as 
boys  do  quoits,  in  upon  the  floor  of  the  box. 
What  he  tried  to  do  was,  to  cover  up  one  of 
the  disks  in  the  box  so  that  no  part  of  it  could 
be  seen.  If  he  did  so  he  was  to  have  a  prize; 
and  he  paid  two  sous  for  the  privilege  of  play- 


160  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

ing.  The  prizes  consisted  of  little  articles  of 
porcelain,  bronzes,  cheap  jewelry,  images,  and 
other  similar  things,  which  were  all  placed 
conspicuously  on  shelves  against  the  tree, 
above  the  box,  in  view  of  the  player. 

It  seemed  to  the  bystanders  as  if  it  would  be 
not  at  all  difficult  to  toss  the  disks  so  as  with 
ten  to  cover  one ;  but  tnose  who  tried  seemed 
to  find  it  very  difficult  to  accomplish  the  object 
Even  if  the  disks  which  they  tossed  fell  in  the 
right  place,  they  would  rebound  or  slide  away 
and  sometimes  knock  away  those  which  were 
already  well  placed.  Still,  after  trying  once, 
the  players  were  usually  unwilling  to  give  up 
without  trying  a  second,  and  even  a  third  and 
fourth  time,  so  that  they  generally  lost  six  or 
•sight  sous  before  they  were  willing  to  stop; 
especially  as  the  man  himself  would  now  and 
then  play  the  disks,  and  he  having  made  him- 
self skilful  by  great  practice,  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  piling  up  his  ten  disks  wherever  he 
wished  them  to  go. 

4 1  could  do  it,  I  verily  believe,  '  said  Rollo. 
"I  should  like  to  try.       I  mean  to  go  and  ask 
my  father  if  I  may." 

So  Rollo  went  to  the  carriage  to  state  the 
case  to  his  father,  and  ask  his  permission  to 
see  if  he  could  not  pitch  the  disks  so  as  to  cover 
one  of  the  plates  on  the  roard.  His  father 
hesitated 

So  far  as  trying  the  experiment  Is  con- 
cerned,* said  Mr.  Holiday,  "as  a  matter  of 
dexterity  and  skill,    there  is  no  harm ;  but  so 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  161 

far  as  the  hope  of  getting  a  prize  by  it  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  of  the  nature  of  gaming. " 

"I  should  think  it  was  more  of  the  nature  of 
a  reward  for  merit  and  excellence,"  said  Mr. 
George. 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Holiday;  "for  in  one  or  two 
trials  made  by  chance  passengers  coming  along 
to  such  a  place,  the  result  must  depend  much 
more  on  chance  than  on  adroitness  or  ski  1." 

"I  will  tell  you  what  you  may  do,  Rollo, " 
continued  Mr.  Holiday.  "You  may  pay  the 
man  two  sous  and  try  the  experiment,  provided 
you  determine  beforehand  not  to  take  any 
prize  if  you  succeed.  Then  you  will  pay  your 
money  simply  for  the  use  of  his  apparatus,  to 
amuse  yourself  with  a  gymnastic  performance, 
and  not  stake  it  in  hope  of  a  prize. " 

"Well,'  *  said  Rollo,  "that  is  all  I  want" 

And  off  he  ran, 

"It  seems  to  me  that  that  is  a  very  nice  dis- 
tinction that  you  made,  u  said  Mr.  George,  as 
soon  as  Rollo  had  gone,  "and  that  those  two 
things  are  very  near  the  line,"  "Yes," 
replied  Mr.  Holiday,  "it  is  a  nice  distinction, 
but  it  is  a  very  true  one,  The  two  things  are 
very  near  the  line,-  but  then,  one  of  them  is 
clearly  on  one  side,  and  the  other  on  the  other. 
For  a  boy  to  pay  for  the  use  of  such  an  appar- 
atus for  the  purpose  of  trying  his  eye  and  his 
hand  is  clearly  right;-  but  to  stake  his  money 
in  hopes  of  winning  a  prize  is  wrong,  for  it  is 
gaming.  It  is  gaming,  it  is  true,  in  this  case, 
on  an  exceedingly  small  scale.     Still  it  is  gam- 

11    Paris 


162  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

ing,  and  so  is  the  beginning-  of  a  road  which 
has  a  very  dreadful  end.     Is  not  it  so?" 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  George,  "I  think  it  is." 

As  might  have  been  expected,  Rollo  did  not 
succeed  in  covering  one  of  the  disks.  The 
disks  that  he  threw  spread  all  over  the  board. 

The  money  that  he  paid  was,  however,  well 
spent,  for  he  had  much  more  than  two  sous' 
worth  of  satisfaction  in  making  the  experi- 
ment. 

Rollo  found  a  great  many  other  things  to  in- 
terest him  in  the  various  stalls  and  stands  that 
he  visited;  but  at  length  he  got  tired  of  them 
all,  and,  coming  back  to  the  carriage,  told  his 
father  that  he  was  ready  to  go  home 

''Very  well,"  said  his  father.  "I  don't  know 
but  that  your  uncle  George  and  I  are  ready, 
too,  though  we  have  not  quite  got  through 
with  our  papers=  But  we  can  finish  them  at 
home. '' 

J^rSo  Rollo  and  Carlos  got  into  the  carriage, 
and  all  the  party  went  home  to  dinner. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  163 


CHAPTER  X. 


ROLLO  S     NARRATIVE. 


One  evening,  when  Rollo  had  been  making 
a  long  excursion  during  the  day  with  his  uncle 
George,  and  had  dined  with  him,  at  the  close 
of  it,  at  a  restaurant  in  the  Boulevards,  he 
went  home  about  eight  o'clock  to  the  hotel  to 
see  his  father  and  mother  and  Jennie,  and  told 
them  where  he  had  been,  He  found  his 
mother  in  her  room  putting  on  her  bonnet. 
She  said  she  was  going  to  take  a  ride  along  the 
Boulevards  with  a  gentleman  and  lady  who 
were  going  to  call  for  her. 

4 'And  where  is  father?"  said  Rollo. 

"He  has  gone  to  bed,  and  is  asleep  by  this 
time.  You  must  be  careful  not  to  disturb 
him." 

"And  Jennie?"  asked  Rollo. 

"She  has  gone  to  bed,  too,"  said  his  mother; 
"but  she  is  not  asleep,  and  I  presume  she 
will  be  very  glad  to  see  you.  You  can  go  in 
her  room," 

"Well,  I  will,"  said  Rollo.  "But,  mother, 
I  should  like  to  go  and  ride  with  you.  Will 
there  be  room  for  me?" 

"Yes,"  said  his  mother.  "There  will  be 
room,  I  suppose,  in  the  carriage ;  but  it  would 
not  be  proper  for  me  to   take   you,    for  I   am 


164  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

going  on  an  invitation  from  others.  The  in- 
vitation was  to  me  alone,  and  I  have  no  right 
to  extend  it  to  anybody  else. 

"But  this  you  can  do,  if  you  please,"  con- 
tinued his  mother.  "You  can  take  our  car- 
riage, and  let  Alfred  drive  you,  and  so  follow 
along  after  our  party.  Only  in  that  case  you 
would  not  have  any  company.  You  would  be 
in  a  carriage  alone. ' ' 

"Never  mind  that, "said  Rollo.  "I  should 
like  that.  I  would  put  the  top  back,  and  then 
I  could  see  all  around.  I  should  have  a  grand 
ride.  I'll  go.  I  wish  Jennie  had  not  gone  to 
bed;  she  could  have  gone  with  me." 

"No,"  replied  his  mother;  "Jennie  is  not 
well  to-night.  She  has  got  cold,  and  she 
went  to  bed  early  on  that  account.  But  she 
will  be  very  glad  to  have  you  go  and  see 
her." 

So  Rollo  went  into  Jennie's  room.  As  soon 
as  he  opened  the  door,  Jennie  pushed  aside 
the  curtains,  and  said, — 

"Ah,  Rollo,  is  that  you?  I  am  very  glad  that 
you  have  come." 

"I  can't  stay  but  a  little  while,"  said  Rollo. 
"I  am  going  to  take  a  ride  with  mother." 

"Are  you  going  with  mother?"  asked  Jennie. 

"Not  in  the  carriage  with  her,"  replied 
Rollo;  "but  I  am  going  in  the  same  party.  I 
am  going  to  have  a  carriage  all  to  myself. " 

"O,  no,  Rollo,"  said  Jennie,  in  a  beseeching 
tone.  "Don't  go  away.  Stay  here  with  me, 
please.  I  am  all  alone,  and  have  not  any- 
body to  amuse  me." 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  165 

"But  you  will  go  to  sleep  pretty  soon,"  said 
Rollo. 

"No,"  replied  Jennie;  "I  am  not  sleepy  the 
least  in  the  world.      See." 

Here  Jennie  opened  her  eyes  very  wide,  and 
looked  Rollo  full  in  the  face,  by  way  of  demon- 
strating that  she  was  not  sleepy. 

Rollo  felt  very  much  perplexed.  When  he 
pictured  to  himself,  in  imagination,  the  idea  of 
being  whirled  rapidly  through  the  Boulevards, 
on  such  a  pleacnnt  summer  evening,  in  a  car- 
riage which  he  should  have  all  to  himself, 
with  the  top  down  so  that  he  could  see  every- 
thing all  around  him,  and  of  the  brilliant  win- 
dows of  the  shops,  the  multitudes  of  ladies  and 
gentlemen  taking  their  coffee  at  the  little 
round  tables  on  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the 
coffee  saloons,  the  crowds  of  people  coming 
and  going,  and  the  horsemen  and  carriages 
thronging  the  streets,  the  view  was  so  en- 
chanting that  it  was  very  hard  for  him  to 
give  up  the  promised  pleasure.  He,  however, 
determined  to  do  it;  so  he  said, — 

"Well,  Jennie,  I'll  stay.  I  will  go  out  and 
tell  mother  that  I  am  not  going  to  ride,  and 
then  I  will  come  back. ' ' 

For  the  first  half  hour  after  Mrs.  Holiday 
went  away,  Rollo  was  occupied  with  Jennie 
in  looking  over  some  very  pretty  French  pic- 
ture books  which  Mrs.  Holiday  had  bought 
for  her  that  day,  to  amuse  her  because  she 
was  sick.  Jennie  had  looked  them  all  over 
before;  but  now  that  Rollo  had  come,  it  gave 
her  pleasure   to  look  them   over    again,    and 


166  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

talk  about  them  with  him.  Jennie  sat  up  in 
the  bed,  leaning  back  against  the  pillows  and 
bolsters,  and  Rollo  sat  in  a  large  and  very 
comfortable  arm  chair,  which  he  had  brought 
up  for  this  purpose  to  the  bedside.  The 
books  lay  on  a  monstrous  square  pillow  of 
down,  half  as  large  as  the  bed  itself,  which, 
according  to  the  French  fashion,  is  always 
placed  on  the  top  of  the%  bed.  Rollo  and  Jen- 
nie would  take  the  books,  one  at  a  time,  and 
look  them  over,  talking  about  the  pictures,  and 
showing  the  prettiest  ones  to  each  other. 
Thus  the  time  passed  very  pleasantly.  At 
length,  however,  Jennie,  having  looked  over 
all  the  books,  drew  herself  down  into  the  bed, 
and  began  to  ask  Rollo  where  he  had  been 
that  day. 

"I  have  been  with  uncle  George,"  said 
Rollo.  "He  said  that  he  was  going  about  to 
see  a  great  many  different  places,  and  that  I 
might  go  with  him  if  chose,  though  he  sup- 
posed that  most  of  them  were  places  that  I 
should  not  care  to  see.  But  I  did.  I  liked  to 
see  them  all." 

"What  places  did  you  go  to?"  asked  Jennie. 

"Why,  first  we  went  to  see  the  workshops. 
I  did  not  know  before  that  there  were  so 
many.  Uncle  George  says  that  Paris  is  one 
of  the  greatest  manufacturing  places  in  the 
world;  only  they  make  things  by  hand,  in 
private  shops,  and  not  in  great  manufactories, 
by  machinery.  Uncle  George  says  there 
must  be  as  much  as  eight  or  ten  square  miles 
of  these  shops  in  Paris.     They  are  piled  up  to 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  167 

six  or  eight  stories  high.  Some  of  the  streets 
look  like  ranges  of  chalky  cliffs  facing  each 
other,  such  as  we  see  at  some  places  on  the 
sea  shore." 

44 What  do  they  make  in  the  shops?"  asked 
Jennie. 

4tO,  all  sorts  of  curious  and  beautiful  things. 
They  have  specimens  of  the  things  that  they 
make  up,  put  up,  like  pictures  in  a  frame,  in 
little  glass  cases,  on  the  wall  next  the  street. 
We  walked  along  through  several  streets  and 
looked  at  these  specimens.  There  were 
purses,  and  fringes,  and  watches,  and  gold 
and  silver  chains,  and  beautiful  portemon- 
nies,  and  clocks,  and  jewelry  of  all  kinds, 
and  ribbons,  and  opera  glasses,  and  dressing 
cases,  and  every  thing  you  can  think  of." 

44 Yes, "  said  Jennie,  "I  have  seen  all  such 
things  in  the  shop  windows  in  the  Palais 
Royal  and  in  the  Boulevards." 

44  Ah,  those  are  the  shops  where  they  sell 
the  things,"  said  Rollo;  4tbut  these  shops  that 
uncle  George  and  I  went  to  see  are  where 
they  make  them.  We  went  to  one  place  where 
they  were  making  artificial  flowers,  and  such 
beautiful  things  you  never  saw.  The  rooms 
were  full  of  girls,  all  making  artificial  flowers. " 

4 'Why  did  not  you  bring  me  home  some  of 
them?"  asked  Jennie. 

44Why — I  didn't  know,"  replied  Rollo.  44I 
did  not  think  to  ask  if  I  could  buy  any  of 
them. 

44  Then,  after  we  had  gone  about  in  the. 
workshops  till  we  had  seen  enough,  we  went  to 


168  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

the  Louvre    to   see  the  paintings;  though   on 
the  way  we  stopped  to  see  a  creche." 

Rollo  pronounced  the  word  very  much  as  if 
it  had  been  spelled  crash. 

"A  crash!"  exclaimed  Jennie.  "Did  a 
building  tumble  down?" 

"O,  no, "  said  Rollo,  "it  was  not  that  It 
was  a  place  where  they  keep  a  great  many 
babies.  The  poor  women  who  have  to  go  out 
to  work  all  day  carry  their  babies  to  this  place 
in  the  morning,  and  leave  them  there  to  be 
taken  care  of,  and  then  come  and  get  them 
at  night.  There  are  some  nuns  there,  dressed 
all  in  white,  to  take  care  of  the  babies.  They 
put  them  in  high  cradles  that  stand  all  around 
the  room." 

"Were  they  all  crying?"  asked  Jennie. 

"O,  no,"  said  Rollo,  "they  were  all  still. 
When  we  went  in  they  were  all  just  waking 
up.  The  nuns  put  them  to  sleep  all  at  the 
same   time.     Every  cradle  had   a  baby  in  it. 

Some  were  stretching  their  arms,  and  some 
were  opening  their  eyes,  and  some  were  try- 
ing to  get  up.  As  fast  as  they  got  wide 
awake,  the  nuns  would  take  them  up  and  put 
them  on  the  floor,  at  a  place  where  there  was 
a  carpet  for  them  to  creep  upon  and  play." 

"I  wish  I  could  go  and  see  them,"  said  Jen- 
nie. 

"You  can,"  replied  Rollo.  "Anybody  can 
go  and  see  them.  They  keep  everything 
very  white  and  nice.  The  cradles  were  very 
pretty    ' 

"Did  they  rock?"  asked  Jennie. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  169 

"No,"  replied  Rollo;  "they  were  made  to 
swing,  and  not  to  rock.  They  were  up  so 
high  from  the  floor  that  they  could  not  be 
made  to  rock  very  well.  We  staid  some  time 
in  this  place,  and  then  we  went  away. " 

"And  where  did  you  go  next?"  asked  Jen- 
nie. 

"We  went  to  the  Louvre  to  see  a  famous 
gallery  of  paintings.  It  is  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
long,  and  the  walls  are  covered  with  paint- 
ings on  both  sides,  the  whole  distance." 

"Except  where  the  windows  are,  I  sup- 
pose," said  Jennie. 

"No, "  replied  Rollo,  "there  are  no  inter- 
ruptions for  windows.  The  windows  are  up 
high  in  the  ceiling,  for  the  room  is  very  lofty. 
There  is  room  for  two  or  three  rows  of  paint- 
ings below  the  windows.  It  is  a  splendid  long 
room." 

"Were  the  pictures  very  pretty?"  asked 
Jennie. 

"Not  very,"  said  Rollo;.  "At  least,  I  did 
not  think  so ;  but  uncle  George  told  me  it  was 
a  very  famous  gallery.  There  were  a  great 
many  other  rooms,  besides,  all  carved  and 
gilded  most  magnificently,  and  an  immense 
staircase  of  marble,  wide  enough  for  an  army 
to  go  up  and  down.  There  were  several 
large  rooms,  too,  full  of  ancient  marble 
statues;  but  I  did  not  like  them  very  much. 
They  looked  very  dark  and  dingy.  The 
paintings  were  prettier  than  they. 

"There  were  a  great  many  persons  in  the 
painting  gallery  at  work   copying  the  paint- 


170  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

ings, "  continued  Rollo.  "Some  were  girls, 
and  some  were  young  men.  There  was  one 
boy  there  not  much  bigger  than  I." 

"I  don't  see  how  so  small  a  boy  could  learn 
to  paint  so  well,"  said  Jennie. 

"Why,  he  was  not  so  very  small,"  said 
Rollo.  "He  was  bigger  than  I  am,  and  I  am 
growing  to  be  pretty  large.  Besides,  they 
have  excellent  schools  here  where  they  learn 
to  draw  and  to  paint.  We  went  to  see  one  of 
them." 

"Did  it  look  like  one  of  our  schools?"  asked 
Jennie. 

"O,  no,"  replied  Rollo;  "it  seemed  to  me 
more  like  a  splendid  palace  than  a  school. 

"We  went  through  an  iron  gate  into  a  court, 
and  across  the  court  to  a  great  door,  where  a 
man  came  to  show  us  the  rooms.  There  were 
a  great  many  elegant  staircases,  and  passage 
ways,  and  halls,  with  pictures,  and  statues, 
and  models  of  cities,  and  temples,  and  ruins, 
and  everything  else  necessary  for  the  stu- 
dents. ' ' 

"Were  the  students  there?"  asked  Jennie. 

"No,"  replied  Rollo;  "but  we  saw  the  room 
where  they  worked,  and  we  saw  the  last  les- 
son that  they  had. " 

"What  was  it?"  asked  Jennie. 

"It  was  a  subject  which  the  professor  gave 
them  for  a  picture ;  and  all  of  them  were  to 
paint  a  picture  on  that  subject,  each  one 
according  to  his  own  ideas.  We  saw  the  paint- 
ings that  they  had  made.  There  were  twenty 
or  thirty  of  them.      The  subject  was  written 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  171 

on  a  sheet  of   paper,  and  put  up  in  the  room 
where  they  could  all  see  it." 

"What  was  the  subject?"  asked  Jennie. 

4 'It  was  something  like  this,"  replied  Rollo: 
"An  old  chestnut  tree  in  a  secluded  situation, 
the  roots  partly  denuded  from  an  inundation 
from  a  stream.  Cattle  in  the  foreground,  on 
the  right.     Time,  sunset." 

"And  did  all  the  pictures  have  an  old  chest- 
nut tree  in  them?"  asked  Jennie. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo;  "and  the  roots  were  all 
out  of  the  ground  on  one  side,  and  there  were 
cows  in  the  foreground  of  them  all.  But  the 
forms  of  the  trees,  and  the  position  of  the 
cattle,  and  the  landscape  in  the  background 
were  different  in  every  one." 

"I  should  like  to  see  them,"  said  Jennie. 

"Then,"  said  Rollo,  "when  we  came  away 
from  this  place  we  walked  along  on  the  quay 
by  the  side  of  the  river,  looking  over  the  para- 
pet down  to  the  bank  below.  " 

"Was  it  a  pretty  place?"  asked  Jennie. 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "a  very  pretty  place  in- 
deed. There  were  great  floating  houses  in 
the  water,  for  the  baths,  with  wheels  turning 
in  the  current  to  pump  up  water,  and  little 
flower  gardens  along  the  brink  of  the  stream. 
At  least,  in  some  places  there  were  flower  gar- 
dens, and  in  others  there  was  a  wall  along  the 
water,  with  boys  sitting  on  the  edge  of  it, 
fishing.  Presently  we  came  to  a  place  where 
there  was  an  opening  in  the  parapet  and  stairs 
to  go  down  to  the  water.  You  go  down  two 
or  three  steps  first,  and  then  the  stairs  turn 


f72  ROLLO  IN  PAI^IS. 

each  way.  At  the  turning  there  was  a  man 
who  had  fishing  poles,  and  nets,  and  fishing 
lines  to  sell  or  let.  He  had  some  to  let  for 
three  sous  an  hour.  I  proposed  to  uncle 
George  that  we  should  hire  two  of  them  and 
go  down  and   fish  a  little  while." 

"And  what  did  he  say?"  asked  Jennie. 

"He  laughed,  and  said  that  for  him  to  spend 
the  time  while  he  was  in  Paris  in  fishing  in  the 
Seine  would  be  perfectly  preposterous.  He 
said  that  his  time  in  Europe  cost  him  not  less 
than  a  dollar  for  every  hour." 

"A  dollar  for  every  hourv'  exclaimed  Jen- 
nie. 

"Yes,"  replied  Rollo.  "He  says  that  his 
two  passages  across  the  Atlantic  will  have 
cost  three  hundred  dollars,  and  the  other  ex- 
penses of  his  tour  as  much  as  five  hundred 
more,  which  makes  eight  hundred  dollars,  and 
that  he  will  not  have  more  than  one  hundred 
days,  probably,  from  the  time  of  his  landing  in 
England  to  the  time  of  his  sailing  again. 
That  makes  it  about  eight  dollars  a  day. 
Now,  there  are  not  more  than  eight  hours  in  a 
day  suitable  for  going  about  and  seeing  what 
is  to  be  seen ;  so  that  his  time  in  the  middle 
of  the  day  costs  him  a  dollar  an  hour;  and  he 
could  not  afford,  he  said,  to  spend  it  in  fishing. 

"However,"  continued  Rollo,  "he  said  that 
I  might  look  at  the  man's  fishing  apparatus; 
and  if  I  found  that  it  was  different  from  that 
which  the  boys  used  in  America,  I  might  buy 
some  of  it  to  carry  home. ' ' 

"And  did  you?"  asked  Jennie. 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  173 

"Yes,"  replied  Rollo.  And  so  saying,  he 
put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and  took  out  a 
small  parcel  put  up  in  a  piece  of  French  news- 
paper. He  unrolled  this  parcel  and  showed 
Jennie  what  it  contained.  Jennie  sat  up  in 
bed  very  eagerly  in  order  to  see  it.  First 
there  came  out  a  small  net. 

4 'This  net,  you  see,"  said  Rollo,  "is  to  be 
put  upon  a  hoop  or  a  ring  of  wire  when  I  get 
to  America.  I  did  not  buy  a  hoop,  because  it 
would  fill  up  my  trunk  too  much.  But  I  can 
make  one  when  I  get  home. 

"Then  here  are  the  fishing  lines,"  continued 
Rollo.  "I  bought  two  of  them.  They  were 
very  cheap. ' ' 

The  fishing  lines  were  very  pretty.  Each 
had  a  small  round  cork  upon  the  end  of  a  quill. 
The  corks  were  red,  touched  with  blue. 
There  was  a  sinker  for  each,  made  of  large 
shot. 

"The  man  put  in  several  spare  sinkers  for 
me,"  resumed  Rollo,  "in  case  these  should 
come  off."  So  saying,  he  opened  a  small 
paper  and  showed  Jennie  several  large-sized 
shot  each  of  which  had  a  cleft  in  the  side  of 
it  for  putting  in  the  line.  The  intention  was 
that  the  lead  should  be  closed  over  the  line, 
after  the  line  had  been  inserted  in  it,  by 
means  of  a  light  blow  with  a  hammer,  and 
thus  the  sinker  would  be  secured  to  its  place. 

"I  like  a  net  best  to  catch  fishes  with,"  said 
Jennie,  "because  that  does  not  hurt  them." 

"True,"  said  Rollo,  "a  net  is  a  great  deal 
better  on  that  account.      You  see  I  put  a  hoop 


174  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

around  to  keep  the  mouth  of  the  net  open, 
and  then  fasten  it  to  the  end  of  a  long  handle. 
Then  you  stand  on  the  bank  of  the  brook  and 
put  the  net  down  into  the  water,  and  when  a 
fish  comes  along  you  dip  him  up." 

"Yes,"  said  Jennie,  "that  is  an  excellent 
way. ' ' 

"Then  you  could  put  him  in  a  small  pail  of 
water,"  said  Rollo,  "and  carry  him  home  and 
then  you  could  put  him  in  a  bowl  and  see  him 
swim  about. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Jennie,  "I  wish  you  would  give 
me  this  net." 

"Well,"  said  Rollo,  "I  will.  I  shall  go 
down  by  the  river  again  some  day,  and  then  I 
can  buy  another  for  myself." 

"So  you  can,"  said  Jennie;  "or,  if  you  don't 
get  another,  I  can  lend  you  mine  when  you 
wish  to  fish  with  it." 

So  Rollo  put  up  his  fishing  tackle  again,  and 
then  Jennie  asked  him  where  else  he  went. 

"Why,  we  walked  along  the  quay,"  said 
Rollo,  "along  way,  past  several  bridges,  until 
at  last  we  came  to  a  bridge  leading  over  to  an 
island  in  the  river,  where  there  was  a  great 
Cathedral  church,  which  uncle  George  said  he 
wished  to  see.  It  as  the  Church  of  Notre 
Dame.  It  was  an  immense  great  church, 
with  two  towers  very  high ;  but  it  was  very 
old.  The  outside  of  it  seeemd  to  be  all  crum- 
bling to  pieces. 

"Did  you  go  in?"  asked  Jennie. 

"Yes,"  replied  Rollo.  "It  is  open  all  the 
time,  and   people  are  all  the  time  going  and 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  175 

coming.  We  went  in,  There  was  an  old 
woman  sitting  just  inside  the  door,  with  a 
string  of  beads  in  her  hands,  counting  them. 
There  were  two  or  three  other  old  women 
there,  knitting.  I  could  not  see  much  of  the 
inside  of  the  church  when  we  first  went  in, 
there  were  so  many  columns;  but  I  could  hear 
che  birds  flying  about  and  singing  away  up 
high  among  the  vaults  and  arches." 

"The  birds  inside  the  church!"  said  Jennie. 
"I  should  think  they  would  drive  them  out." 

"I  don't  know  how  they  could  drive  them 
out,"  said  Rollo,  "it  was  so  high  up  to  where 
they  were  flying.  The  arch  of  the  ceiling 
seemed  like  a  stone  sky.  There  were  so  many 
pillars  to  keep  up  this  roof,  that,  when  we 
first  went  in,  we  could  not  see  any  end  to  the 
church  at  all.  However,  we  walked  along, 
and  after  a  while  we  came  to  the  end. 

"There  were  a  great  many  curious  things  to 
see  in  the  church,"  continued  Rollo.  "There 
were  a  great  many  little  chapels  along  the 
sides  of  it,  and  curious  images  sculptured  in 
stone,  and  people  doing  curious  things  all 
about  in  different  places.  We  walked  about 
there  for  half  an  hour.  At  last  we  found  a 
congregation." 

"A  congregation!" 

"Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "we  came  to  a  place,  at 
last,  which  was  divided  off  by  a  kind  of  railing; 
and  there  was  a  congregation  there,  sitting  in 
chairs.  Some  were  kneeling  in  chairs,  and 
some  were  kneeling  on  the  stone  floor.     They 


J76  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

were  reading  in  little  prayer  books  and  look- 
ing about." 

"Was  anybody  preaching  to  them?"  asked 
Jennie. 

"No,"  said  Rollo,  "but  there  were  some 
priests  at  the  altar  doing  something  there; 
but  I  could  not  understand  what  they  were 
doing.  We  stopped  there  a  little  while,  and 
then  we  came  away.  We  walked  along  to  an- 
other part  of  the  church,  and  at  length  we 
came  to  another  enclosure,  where  a  great 
many  people  were  collected.  Uncle  George 
went  up  to  see  what  it  was,  and  he  said  he  be- 
lieved it  was  a  baptism ;  but  I  could  not  get 
near  enough  to  see." 

"And  what  did  you  do  next?"  asked  Jennie. 

"Why,  we  came  out  of  the  church,  and 
crossed  over  by  a  bridge  to  this  side  of  the 
river,  and  then  walked  down  along  the  quay 
till  we  came  to  a  place  where  there  was  a  tall 
bronze  column,  somewhat  like  this  column  in 
the  Place  Vendome.  Uncle  George  said  that 
he  wished  to  see  it,  because  it  stood  on  the 
place  where  a  famous  old  castle  and  prison 
used  to  stand  in  former  times,  called  the  Bas- 
tile.  He  said  that  the  people  made  an  insur- 
rection and  battered  the  old  prison  down,  be- 
cause the  government  was  so  cruel  in  shutting 
up  innocent  prisoners  in  it.  They  built  fires 
against  the  doors,  and  battered  against  them 
with  heavy  timbers  until  they  broke  them  in, 
and  then  they  let  the  prisoners  out  and  set  the 
prison  on  fire.  Uncle  George  said  that  I 
should  take  great  interest  in  reading  about  it 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  177 

one  of  these  days;  but  I  think  I  should  like  to 
read  about  it  now. ' ' 

"I  should  too,"  said  Jennie. 

4 'They  afterwards  took  away  all  the  stones 
of  the  Bastile,"  continued  Rollo,  "and  made 
this  tall  bronze  column  in  its  place.  There  is 
a  figure  of  a  man  on  it,  standing  on  tiptoe.  '* 

"I  should  think  he  would  blow  down  in  a 
high  wind,"  said  Jennie. 

"I  don't  know  why  he  does  not,  I  am  sure," 
rejoined  Rollo. 

44 1  wanted  to  go  up  to  the  top  of  the  column 
and  see  how  he  was  fastened  there ;  but  uncle 
George  said  he  was  too  tired.  So  we  came 
away.  In  fact,  I  was  very  willing  to  come 
away,  for  I  saw  a  great  crowd  at  a  certain 
broad  place  on  the  sidewalk,  not  far  from 
there,  and  I  wished  to  go  and  see  what  it  was. " 

44 And  did  you  go?"  asked  Jennie. 

44  Yes, "  replied  Rollo,  44and  I  found  it  was 
man  who  had  made  a  great  ring  of  people  all 
about  him,  and  was  trying  to  get  them  to  give 
fifteen  sous  to  see  him  shut  himself  up  in  a 
small  box.  The  box  was  on  the  pavement, 
already.  It  was  quite  small.  It  did  not  seem 
possible  that  a  man  could  be  shut  up  in  it. ' ' 

*4How  big  was  it?"  asked  Jennie. 

*40,  I  don't  know,  exactly,"  said  Rollo. 
"It  was  quite  small." 

44 Was  it  no  bigger  than  that,"  said  Jennie, 
holding  up  her  two  hands  a  few  inches  apart, 
so  as  to  indicate  what  she  would  consider 
quite  a  small  box. 

4 40,  yes,"  said  Rollo,    " it  was  a  great  deal 

12    Paris 


178  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

bigger  than  that.     It  was  only  a  little  smaller 
than  you  would  think  a  man  could  get  into 
The  box  was  square,  and  was  made  of  tin,  but 
painted  black. 

4 'There  was  an  organ  at  one  end  of  the  ring, 
with  a  man  playing  upon  it,  to  draw  the 
crowd  together.  In  front  of  the  organ  was  a 
woman,  with  a  baby  in  her  arms,  and  another 
little  child  playing  about  her.  The  man  said 
that  this  was  his  family,  and  that  he  had  to 
support  them  by  his  experiments.  In  front  of 
the  woman  was  the  box.  In  front  of  the  box 
was  the  man,  who  stood  there,  generally,  tell- 
ing what  he  was  going  to  do,  and  calling  upon 
the  people  to  throw  in  their  sous.  In  front  of 
the  man  was  a  carpet,  on  the  pavement,  and 
in  the  middle  of  the  carpet  a  tin  plate.  From 
time  to  time  the  people  would  throw  sous  into 
the  circle.  The  man  would  then  pick  them  up 
and  put  them  into  the  plate,  and  tell  the 
people  how  many  there  lacked.  There  must 
be  fifteen,  he  said,  or  he  could  not  perform 
the  experiment.  He  kept  talking  all  the  time 
to  the  people,  and  saying  funny  things  to  make 
them  laugh. 

44  At  last  all  the  fifteen  sous  were  in,  and  then 
the  man  went  to  the  box.  He  brought  out  i 
soldier  who  was  standing  among  the  people, 
and  placed  him  near  the  box,  so  that  he  might 
shut  the  cover  down  when  the  man  was  in.  The 
man  then  stepped  into  the  box.  The  upper 
edge  of  it  was  not  higher  than  his  knees.  He 
then  began  to  kneel  down  in  the  box,  crossing 
his  legs  under  him ;  and  then  he  crouched  his 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  179 

body  down  into  it,  and  curled  in  his  head  and 
then 

44 Jennie!"  said  Rollo,  interrupting  himself. 

He  observed  that  Jennie  was  very  still,  and 
he  was  not  sure  that  she  was  listening. 

Jennie  did  not  answer.     She  was  fast  asleep. 

4 'She's  gone  to  sleep,'*  said  Rollo,  4t without 
hearing  the  end  of  the  story.  However,  the 
soldier  put  the  lid  down,  and  shut  the  man 
entirely  in.*' 

Rollo  thought  that,  as  he  was  so  near  the 
end,  he  might  as  well  finish  the  story,  even  if 
his  auditor  was  asleep. 


180  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 


CHAPTER  XL 


CONCLUSION. 


Polio's  adventures  in  Paris  were  brought,  at 
length,  for  the  time  being,  to  a  somewhat 
abrupt  termination,  by  an  invitation  which  he 
received  suddenly  at  breakfast  one  morning, 
from  his  uncle  George,  to  set  off  with  him  the 
next  day  for  Switzerland.  Rollo  was  very 
eager  to  accept  this  invitation  from  the  mo- 
ment that  it  was  offered  him.  It  is  true  that 
he  was  not  at  all  tired  of  Paris;  and  there 
were  a  great  many  places,  both  in  the  city  and 
in  the  environs,  that  he  was  still  desirous  to 
see. 

Rollo  had  only  one  day's  notice  of  the  pro- 
posed journey  to  Switzerland,  and  that  day  was 
spent  almost  entirely  in  getting  the  passports 
ready.  This  business  devolved  on  Rollo  him- 
self, as  his  uncle  was  engaged  in  some  other 
way  that  day ;  and  he  proposed,  therefore,  that 
Rollo  should  undertake  the  work  of  getting 
the  passports  stamped.  Rollo  accordingly  did 
so.  He  took  a  carriage  and  went  round  to  the 
various  offices,  and  attended  to  the  business 
very  well,  though  he  encountered  some  diffi- 
culties in  doing  it.  His  uncle  George  was 
very  much  pleased  when  he  came  home  that 
night  and  found  that  Rollo  had  got  the  pass- 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  181 

ports  all  ready.  Carlos  went  with  Rollo  to 
the  passport  offices,  for  company,  though  he 
could  not,  of  course,  render  him  any  assist- 
ance. 

Rollo  dined  that  evening  with  his  uncle 
George  and  Carlos  at  a  restaurant.  There  are 
hundreds  of  these  restaurants  scattered  all 
over  the  city  of  Paris,  and  many  of  them  are 
furnished  and  decorated  in  a  style  of  splendor 
that  is  magnificent  beyond  description.  Mr. 
George  took  Rollo  and  Carlos  to  one  of  the 
finest  of  them.     It  was  in  the  Boulevards. 

The  aspect  of  the  room,  when  Rollo  entered 
it,  was  very  imposing.  It  was  lined  on  all 
sides  with  mirrors,  with  carved  and  gilded  pil- 
asters between  them,  and  a  richly  ornamented 
cornice  above.  The  ceiling,  overhead,  was 
paneled,  and  was  painted  in  fresco  with  the 
most  graceful  and  elegant  devices.  The  floor 
was  laid  in  a  beautiful  mosaic  of  wood,  bril- 
liantly polished.  The  room  was  filled  with 
tables,  all  set  out  for  dinner  in  the  nicest  man- 
ner, with  silver  plate,  elegant  porcelain,  and 
glasses  that  reflected  the  light  in  the  most  re- 
splendent manner.  A  great  many  gay  groups 
of  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  seated  at  these 
tables,  taking  dinner;  while  the  waiters,  with 
snow-white  napkins  on  their  arms,  were  walk- 
ing about  in  a  rapid,  but  in  a  very  gentle  and 
noiseless  manner,  to  wait  upon  them.  At  the 
back  side  of  the  room  there  sat  two  beautiful 
young  women,  behind  a  sort  of  counter,  which 
was  raised  a  little  above  the  rest  of  the  floor, 
so  that  they  could  survey  the  whole  scene,     It 


182  ROLLO  IN  PARIS. 

was  the  duty  of  these  young  women  to  keep 
the  accounts  of  what  was  ordered  at  the  several 
tables,  and  to  receive  the  money  which  was 
paid  by  the  guests,  the  waiters  carrying  it  to 
them  from  the  different  parties  at  the  tables 
when  they  paid.  These  ladies  were  the  presid- 
ing officers,  as  it  were,  in  the  saloon ;  and  the 
guests  all  bowed  to  them  very  respectfully, 
both  when  they  came  in  and  when  they  went 
away. 

Mr.  George  selected  a  table  for  himself  and 
the  two  boys,  and  they  had  an  excellent  dinner 
there.  There  was  a  printed  book,  large  though 
thin,  on  ever)7  table,  giving  a  list  of  the  differ- 
ent articles — more  than  five  hundred  in  all. 
From  these  Mr.  George  and  the  boys  selected 
what  they  liked,  and  the  waiters  brought  it  to 
them. 

The  party  remained  at  this  restaurant,  eat- 
ing their  dinner  and  taking  their  coffee  after 
it,  for  more  than  an  hour ;  and  then  they  went 
away. 

That  evening  Rollo  went  into  his  father's 
room  to  bid  his  father  good  by,  for  he  ex- 
pected to  set  off  for  Switzerland  the  next 
morning  very  early.  He  found  his  father  sit- 
ting in  an  arm  chair  by  a  window,  reading  a 
book.  Mr.  Holiday  laid  his  book  down  and 
talked  for  some  time  with  Rollo  about  his  pro- 
posed tour  in  Switzerland,  and  gave  him  a 
great  deal  of  preparatory  information  about 
the  mountains,  the  glaciers,  the  torrents,  the 
avalanches,  and  other  wonderful  things  that 


ROLLO  IN  PARIS.  183 

Rollo  expected  to  see.  Rollo  was  very  much 
interested  in  these  accounts. 

"I  am  very  glad  that  uncle  George  invited 
me  to  go  with  him, ' '  said  he. 

4 'So  am  I,"  said  his  father. 

"Because,"  added  Rollo,  "I  expect  to  have 
a  very  pleasant  time. " 

"True,"  replied  his  father;  "but  that  is  not 
the  reason  precisely  why  I  am  glad  that  he  in- 
vited you. ' ' 

"What  is  your  reason,  then?"   asked    Rollo. 

"I  am  glad,"  replied  Mr.  Holiday,  "because 
his  asking  you  to  go  with  him  into  Switzerland 
is  a  sign  that  you  have  been  a  good  boy  while 
under  his  care  here  in  France.  Boys  that  ars 
selfish,  troublesome,  and  disobedient,  in  one 
ride  or  journey,  find  usually  that  their  com- 
pany is  not  desired  a  second  time.  It  is  now 
two  or  three  weeks  since  your  uncle  George 
invited  you  to  come  with  him  from  London  to 
Paris,  and  during  all  this  time  you  have  been 
mainly  under  his  care;  and  now  he  invites 
you  to  go  wih  him  on  a  still  more  extended 
tour.  I  think  you  must  have  conducted  your- 
self in  a  very  considerate  or  gentlemanly  man- 
ner, and  proved  yourself  a  pleasant  traveling 
companion,  or  you  would  not  have  received 
this  new  invitation. " 

Rollo  was  very  much  gratified  at  hearing  his 
father  speak  in  this  manner.  So  he  shook 
hands  with  him,  and  bade  him  good  by. 


JLO 


UNIO>  JARY 


lT  igCo# 


•*    >, 


— w — 
Be  Ag  t  /Q  ..  iiool, 

Dist Co. 

LIBRARY  RULES. 


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Librarian  and  is  held  responsible  to  the 
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new  ones. 


